NOV  12 


BX  7795   .F7  H62  1896 
Hodgkin,  Thomas,  1831-1913. 
George  Fox 


Jieabevz  of  IgUligion 

Edited  by  H.  C.  Beeching,  M.A. 


GEOKGE  FOX 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/georgefoxOOhodg_0 


GEORGE  FOX 


THOMAS  HODGKIN,  D.C.L. 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 

3E(je  IGibfrstbj  |lrtss,  Cambriba* 
1896 


PREFACE 


Having  been  asked  by  my  friend,  the  Editor  of  this 
series,  to  write  the  life  of  George  Fox,  I  have  completed 
the  work  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  though  I  am  aware 
of  the  disadvantage  under  which  I  labour  in  not  having 
for  some  years  made  that  period  a  subject  of  special 
study. 

The  reader  will  no  doubt  perceive  that  I  am  myself 
a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  to  which  my 
ancestors  have  belonged  since  its  first  foundation  by 
George  Fox ;  but  I  trust  that  this  fact  has  not  caused 
me  to  swerve  from  that  absolute  fidelity  of  portraiture 
which  ought  to  be  the  aim  of  every  biographer.  There 
are  some  lines  in  the  portrait  which,  out  of  love  to 
Fox's  memory,  I  would  gladly  have  omitted;  but 
loyalty  to  "  the  Truth,"  which  has  ever  been  the  watch- 
word of  the  Society  of  Friends,  forbade  me  to  do  so. 
Only  I  may  repeat  a  remark  which  has  been  often 
made,  that  his  faults  (especially  his  polemic  bitterness) 
were,  for  the  most  part,  faults  characteristic  of  his  age, 
while  his  nobler  qualities,  his  courage,  his  conscientious- 
ness, and  his  intense  love  of  truth,  were  emphatically  his 
own. 

There  is  an  interesting  question,  into  which  I  have 


vi 


PREFACE 


not  had  space  to  enter,  how  far  Fox's  system  was 
peculiar  to  himself,  and  how  far  it  was  borrowed  from 
other  sects,  especially  the  Baptists  and  Mennonites. 
My  own  impression  is  that  Fox  was  essentially  an 
original  religious  thinker,  and  that  few  men  have  ever 
had  less  of  the  Eclectic  character  than  he :  but  for  a 
careful  statement  of  the  other  side  of  the  question  I 
may  refer  my  readers  to  a  book  frequently  quoted  in 
the  following  pages,  Barclay's  Inner  Life  of  the  Religious 
Societies  of  the  Commonwealth. 

It  only  remains  to  express  my  thanks  to  the  following 
gentlemen,  who  have  helped  me  in  various  ways  in  the 
composition  of  this  little  book — Prof.  Gardiner,  Mr.  C. 
J.  Spence  (the  possessor  of  the  original  MS.  of  George 
Fox's  Journal),  Messrs  Jno.  Fell,  J.  S.  Rowntree,  and 
Alexr.  Gordon.  It  will  be  seen  that  I  am  under  many 
obligations  to  Mrs.  Webb's  Fells  of  Swarthmoor  Hall, 
which  contains  several  letters  of  the  Fell  family  and  of 
George  Fox  not  elsewhere  published.  But,  beyond 
all  other  books,  I  have  been  helped  by  Prof.  Masson's 
Life  of  Milton,  the  most  valuable  work,  as  it  seems  to 
me,  which  has  been  written,  not  only  on  the  literary 
but  also  on  the  religious  history  of  England  during  the 
central  years  of  the  seventeenth  century. 


Thos.  Hodgkin. 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I.     INTRODUCTION     ...          ...          ...  ...  ...  1 

II.     BIRTHPLACE         ...          ...          ...  ...  ...  8 

HI.     EARLY  LIFE         ...          ...          ...  ...  ...  15 

IV.     FOX'S  MESSAGE     ...           ...           ...  ...  ...  33 

V.     MISSIONARY  JOURNEYS  :   MIDLAND  COUNTIES  AND 

YORKSHIRE        ...          ...          ..  ...  ...  45 

VI.     SWARTHMOOR  HALL         ...           ...  ...  ...  63 

VII.     AT  LANCASTER  AND  CARLISLE    ...  ...  ...  79 

VIII.     AT  FENNY  DRAYTON  AND  WHITEHALL  ...  ...  102 

IX.     LAUNCESTON  GAOL           ...          ...  ...  ...  115 

X.     IN  WALES  AND  SCOTLAND           ...  ...  ...  141 

XI.     THE  END  OF  THE  PROTECTORATE  ...  ...  157 

XII.     THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS :  IMPRISONMENTS 

AT  LANCASTER  AND  SCARBRo'  ...  ...  170 

XIII.  MARRIAGE             ...           ...           ...  ...  ...  204 

XIV.  VISIT  TO  AMERICA           ...          ...  ...  ...  222 

XV.     THE  LAST  IMPRISONMENT               ..  ...  ...  238 

XVI.     CLOSING  YEARS    ...          ...          ...  ...  ...  245 

XVII.    CONCLUSION           ...          ...          ...  ...  ...  273 

INDEX    281 


GEOKGrE  FOX 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

"  George  Fox,  the  founder  of  Quakerism."  That  is 
the  formula  which  expresses,  and  will  probably  always 
express,  Fox's  place  in  religious  history.  Yet  of  him, 
even  more  emphatically  than  of  the  men  who  have 
given  their  names  to  great  sections  of  the  Christian 
Church,  Luther,  Calvin,  or  Wesley,  it  may  be  con- 
fidently affirmed  that  to  found  a  new  sect  was  the 
furthest  thing  from  his  hopes  and  aspirations.  A 
religious  reformer,  at  any  rate  one  who  desires  to 
work  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  Christianity, 
cannot  have  sectarian  aims.  He  cannot  be  satisfied 
with  conquering  one  little  province  of  the  Christian 
world,  and  labelling  it  with  his  own  name.  He  must 
believe  that  he  is  the  bearer  of  a  world-wide  message, 
adapted  to  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  and  that  for 
the  whole  Christian  Church  the  only  hope  of  health 
and  cleansing  lies  in  the  acceptance  of  that  message. 
Such  was  most  emphatically  the  belief  of  George  Fox, 

B 


GEORGE  FOX 


and  accordingly  in  studying  his  life  it  is  necessary  as 
much  as  possible  to  dissever  him  in  thought  from  the 
quiet,  respectable,  unaggressive  sect  of  which  he  was  in 
fact,  though  not  in  intention,  the  founder. 

But  a  man  who  believes,  as  Fox  believed,  that  he 
has  a  Divine  commission  to  testify  against  the  errors 
and  corruptions  of  the  religion  which  is  professed  by 
those  around  him,  will  be  the  last  man  to  do  justice  to 
the  germs  of  a  holier  and  better  life  underlying  every 
corruption.  He  will  have  little  or  nothing  of  that 
sympathetic,  eclectic  spirit  which  is  perhaps  the  best 
quality  in  the  religious  life  of  our  generation,  and 
which  enables  us  to  deal  fairly  with  schools  of  thought 
to  which  intellectually  we  are  utterly  opposed.  A  man 
of  such  intense  convictions  as  dominated  the  soul  of 
the  first  Quaker  is  almost  of  necessity  narrow,  and  very 
narrow  the  reader  will  probably  consider  some  of  George 
Fox's  judgments. 

Yet  if  we  would  understand  this  man's  life  in  even 
the  least  degree,  if  we  are  to  look  upon  him  as  anything 
more  than  a  wrong-headed  and  troublesome  disturber 
of  the  public  peace, — that  is  to  say,  if  we  would  learn 
anything  of  the  results  produced  by  his  preaching,  and 
the  secret  of  his  power, — we  must  be  willing,  at  least  for 
a  time,  to  place  ourselves  at  his  point  of  view,  and  look 
forth  upon  the  Christian  world  as  he,  knowing  scarce 
any  other  book  than  the  English  Bible,  and  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  a  Hosea  or  a  Jeremiah,  looked  forth 
upon  it. 

It  is  difficult  for  us  Englishmen  of  the  nineteenth 
century  to  throw  ourselves  back  into  the  state  of  feeling 
as  to  all  religious  matters  which  prevailed  among  our 
forefathers  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  War.    We  have 


INTRODUCTION 


3 


been  always  accustomed  to  the  sight  of  many  religious 
denominations  existing  side  by  side,  if  not  in  love,  at 
any  rate  in  peace.  Round  the  great  Established  Church 
of  England  revolve  in  their  own  orbits  the  Noncon- 
formist Churches  of  Protestantism,  while  the  old  his- 
toric Church  of  Rome  has  perfect  freedom  to  worship 
as  she  pleases,  and  to  make  proselytes  as  she  can. 
How  utterly  different  was  the  state  of  things  under 
Elizabeth  and  James  I. ;  yes,  and  even  when  Charles  I. 
had  been  vanquished,  and  Puritanism  had  gained  the 
upper  hand  !  The  popish  "  Recusants  "  were  persecuted 
with  a  ferocity  which  is  the  disgrace  of  Protestantism, 
and  which  is  only  explained,  not  justified,  by  the 
cruelties  which  had  marked  the  victorious  march  of  the 
Counter- Reformation  in  the  Netherlands  and  Germany, 
and  by  the  disloyal  and  even  murderous  projects  of 
which  some  of  the  English  Papists  were  guilty. 

Within  the  Protestant  camp,  from  the  beginning  of 
Charles's  reign,  Episcopalian  and  Presbyterian  were 
contending,  not  for  bare  existence,  not  even  for  priority 
of  place  and  possession  of  old  revenues,  but  for  the 
right  absolutely  to  suppress  the  defeated  party.  Not 
Laud  himself  was  more  intolerant  of  the  "  Calvinian  " 
lecturers  than  the  adherents  of  the  Solemn  League  and 
Covenant  were  intolerant  of  every  other  form  even  of 
Puritan  discipline  which  squared  not  with  their  precise 
notions  of  Presbyterian  orthodoxy.  In  the  minds  of 
some  of  the  Independents,  it  is  true,  the  great  principle 
of  religious  toleration  had  taken  root,  and  had  begun  to 
show  itself  above  ground.  Great  leaders  of  the  sect, 
such  as  Roger  Williams  in  America  and  Cromwell  in 
England,  were  sacrificing  much  of  their  popularity  in 
the  attempt  to  persuade  the  bigots  around  them  to 


4 


GEORGE  FOX 


bear  with  other  usages  than  their  own ;  but  entire  and 
absolute  religious  toleration  was  still,  in  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  a  theory  and  a  dream,  as 
much  as  is  the  reunion  of  all  Christians  in  one  Church 
at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

In  the  years  of  Fox's  childhood  and  boyhood  the 
Episcopal  Church  of  England  was  ruling  England  with 
absolute  sway,  and  Archbishop  Laud  was  everywhere 
removing  the  altars  to  the  eastern  end  of  the  churches, 
insisting  on  the  kneeling  posture  of  communicants,  and 
on  the  worshippers  bowing  at  the  name  of  Jesus.  Ere 
Fox  had  completed  his  seventeenth  year,  the  system  of 
"  Thorough "  in  Church  and  State  had  broken  down. 
Strafford's  head  had  fallen  on  Tower  Hill,  Laud  was  in 
prison,  and  the  immense  latent  strength  of  Puritanism 
was  about  to  manifest  itself  both  on  the  battle-field  and 
in  the  Houses  of  Parliament.  It  is  important  to  re- 
member this  fact.  In  the  really  formative  years  of  Fox's 
religious  development,  not  Episcopacy,  but  Presby- 
terianism  was  the  dominant  form  of  Church  govern- 
ment. Calvin's  Institutes,  not  Hooker's  Ecclesiastical 
Polity,  was  the  text-book  of  the  clergy  with  whom  he 
was  brought  in  contact.  It  was  not  high  sacramental 
teaching,  nor  discourses  on  Apostolical  Succession,  from 
which  this  young  man's  soul  revolted,  but  it  was  the 
long  sermons  (reaching  to  eighteenthly  and  nineteenthly) 
on  abstruse  points  of  doctrine,  the  almost  equally  long 
and  sermon-like  prayers,  the  Calvinistic  teaching  of  the 
predestined  and  eternal  misery  of  a  large  portion  of  the 
human  race,  the  superstitious  reverence  for  every  letter 
in  that  collection  of  writings  by  holy  men  of  old  made 
by  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Churches,  to  which  was 
given  the  name  of  "  the  Word  of  God  " ;  the  determina- 


INTRODUCTION 


5 


tion  to  keep  the  Lord's  Day  as  if  it  had  been  a  Jewish 
Sabbath,  fencing  it  round  with  the  same  awful  sanctions 
with  which  that  day  was  encompassed  in  the  legislation 
of  the  Pentateuch :  these  and  similar  exaggerations  of 
what  was  then  called  the  Puritan,  and  has  since  been 
called  the  Evangelical,  school,  were  what  first  called 
forth  the  impassioned  protest  of  the  young  shepherd  of 
Leicestershire. 

In  1GG0,  when  Fox  had  fully  reached  middle  life, 
and  had  been  for  twelve  years  a  zealous  missionary 
preacher,  came  the  restoration  of  kingship  in  England, 
and  the  downfall  of  Puritan  ascendency.  Too  soon 
after  this  great  event,  which  it  was  hoped  would  intro- 
duce an  era  of  religious  peace  and  mutual  toleration, 
came  that  cruel  and  vindictive  persecution  of  Noncon- 
formity in  the  name  of  a  perjured  and  profligate  king, 
which  forms  the  darkest  page  in  the  history  of  the 
Church  of  England,  one  which  all  who  are  zealous  for 
her  good  name  would  gladly  obliterate  from  her  annals. 
This  persecution  fell  heavily  on  the  followers  of  Fox, 
as  on  all  the  other  Nonconformists :  even  more  heavily 
on  the  former  by  reason  of  their  stern  and  unbending 
disposition,  than  on  the  latter.  The  utter  failure  of  the 
Episcopalians,  though  armed  with  the  whole  power  of 
the  State,  to  suppress  or  even  to  diminish  the  numbers 
of  these  dauntless  dissenters  from  the  Established 
Church,  was  undoubtedly  a  powerful  factor  in  convincing 
the  nation  of  the  necessity  of  that  general  toleration 
which  was  the  best  result  of  the  Revolution  of  1688, 
But  though  during  this  quarter  of  a  century  Episcopalian 
parsons  and  squires  were  the  chief  agents  in  the  perse- 
cution of  Fox  and  his  friends,  it  can  hardly  be  said  that 
even  then  they  were  the  chief  objects  of  his  religious 


6 


GEORGE  FOX 


polemics.  Still  the  Calvinistic  teaching  was  that 
against  which  he  bore  his  most  persistent  protest,  and 
when  his  young  disciple  Barclay  gave  literary  and 
logical  form  to  the  new  sect's  teaching,  his  Apology 
was  a  veiled  attack  upon  the  Westminster  Confession, 
the  great  manifesto  of  seventeenth-century  Calvinism.1 
From  this  statement  it  must  not  be  inferred  that  there 
was  any  leaning  in  the  mind  of  Fox  and  his  friends 
towards  what  is  called  Catholic  teaching,  whether 
Anglican  or  Roman.  All  that  was  distinctively  char- 
acteristic of  mediaeval  Christianity  was  condemned  by 
them  as  belonging  to  "  the  dark  night  of  apostacy,"  and 
the  attempts  of  the  disciples  of  Laud  to  re-establish  the 
Anglican  Church  on  a  basis  which  should  be  Catholic, 
but  not  Roman,  were  not  indeed  actively  opposed) 
because  they  were  never  understood  by  the  early 
Quakers,  bred  up  as  these  men  had  been  in  a  universally 
diffused  atmosphere  of  Puritanism. 

Lastly,  there  is  one  characteristic  of  early  Quakerism 
which  must  in  fairness  be  noted,  and  which  it  shared 
with  every  other  religious  party  of  the  time.  This  is 
the  extreme  bitterness  with  which  they  spoke  of  their 
opponents,  the  absolute  certainty  which  they  felt  that 
they  alone  were  in  the  right,  and  that  all  who  differed 
from  them  went  wilfully  astray.  To  most  of  the  first 
generation  of  Quakers,  as  to  his  Presbyterian  opponents, 
might  Cromwell  have  addressed  his  well-known  appeal, 
"  I  beseech  you,  by  the  mercies  of  Jesus  Christ,  think  it 

1  This  relation  of  Barclay's  Apology  to  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession and  the  Sfwrter  Catechism  has  not  hitherto  attracted 
sufficient  attention.  Whoever  compares  the  order  of  Barclay's 
Propositions  with  that  of  the  questions  in  the  Shorter  Catechism, 
will,  I  think,  have  no  doubt  that  the  former  document  intention- 
ally follows  the  latter. 


INTRODUCTION 


7 


possible  that  you  may  be  mistaken."  In  this,  as  I  have 
said,  they  shared  that  "form  and  pressure  of  the  times" 
from  which  the  most  original  thinkers  cannot  expect 
wholly  to  escape.  With  us,  it  may  be,  the  danger  is  of  an 
opposite  kind.  New  horizons  of  thought  have  been 
opened  out  to  us.  The  universe  presents  itself  to  our 
minds  as  an  infinitely  greater  and  more  wonderful  thing 
than  it  was  supposed  to  be  by  those  eager  combatants 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  We  are  no  longer  so  abso- 
lutely sure  that  our  little  plummets  have  sounded  its 
awful  depths,  that  we  have  mapped  out  all  its  vastness. 
Hence  comes  doubt ;  hence,  it  may  be,  sometimes  too 
languid  a  grasp  of  the  truths  which  have  been  revealed 
to  us.  But  hence  also  comes  mutual  tolerance,  and  a 
willingness  to  acknowledge  that  others  who  walk  not 
exactly  in  our  paths  may  have  their  faces  set  towards 
the  Heavenly  City ;  and  that  is  in  itself  a  gain,  perhaps 
a  gain  which  even  outweighs  the  loss  that  has  made  it 
possible. 


CHAPTER  II 


BIRTHPLACE 

The  little  hamlet  of  Drayton-in-the-Clay  (as  George 
Fox  styles  it  in  his  Journal),  or  Fenny  Drayton,  as  it 
is  now  called  hy  the  inhabitants,  might  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  have  been  fitly  described  by  either 
name.  It  is  situated  on  the  western  verge  of  Leicester- 
shire, on  a  clay  level,  with  the  rising  ground  of  Market 
Bosworth  on  the  east,  and  the  pleasant  hills  of  Ather- 
stone  on  the  west.  The  road  which  leads  to  it  from 
Bosworth  is  still  called  Fen  Lane,  and  though  the 
country  is  now  well  drained,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  two 
hundred  years  ago  the  desolate  waters  of  the  Fens  must 
have  lain,  all  the  winter  through,  round  about  the  little 
hamlet. 

Fenny  Drayton  lies  about  two  miles  to  the  east  of 
the  main  line  of  the  London  and  North- Western 
Railway  between  London  and  Liverpool.  The  Wat- 
ling  Street,  of  which  the  modern  railway  here,  as  so 
often  elsewhere,  is  the  faithful  companion,  and  which 
forms  the  modern  boundary  between  the  counties  of 
Leicester  and  Warwick,  comes  yet  nearer,  within  a 
mile  of  Fenny  Drayton,  and  the  little  village  of  Man- 
cetter  hard  by  represents  a  station  which  is  named 

8 


BIRTHPLACE 


9 


in  the  road-book  of  the  Roman  Empire.1  This  is  not 
a  mere  matter  of  antiquarian  interest,  for  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  the  Roman  roads  were  still  the  chief 
available  highways  of  the  country.  Along  the  Watling 
Street  doubtless  passed  in  Fox's  day  the  waggons  which 
carried  the  wool  of  the  north  of  England  up  to  the 
markets  of  London.  By  the  same  route  may  have 
ridden  both  Cavaliers  and  Roundheads  towards  the 
battle-field  of  Marston  Moor,  and  it  was  along  the 
same  road  undoubtedly  that  Hemy  of  Richmond,  a 
century  and  a  half  before  the  time  of  Fox's  boyhood, 
came  to  pluck  the  crown  of  England  from  the  head 
of  Richard  III.  The  rising  ground  of  Market  Bos- 
worth,  as  has  been  already  said,  is  all  but  within  sight 
of  Drayton,  and  George  Fox,  in  his  lonely  wanderings 
over  the  fields  which  surrounded  his  birthplace,  must 
have  often  passed  the  site  of  Henry's  camp,  perhaps 
may  have  drunk  sometimes  at  the  well  at  which 
Richard  is  said  to  have  quenched  his  thirst  ere  he 
rushed  into  the  battle.2 

At  the  present  day  but  little  is  left  to  show  what 
Drayton-in-the-Clay  looked  like  two  hundred  years 
ago.  Uninteresting  modern  buildings,  with  shallow 
windows  and  slated  roofs,  have  replaced  the  picturesque, 
deep-mullioned  Jacobean  houses,  with  their  thatches  of 
straw,  which  George  Fox  must  have  looked  on  as  a  boy. 

1  Manduesedum,  mentioned  in  the  Antonine  Itinerary. 

2  A  more  modern  set  of  associations,  but  one  which  will  interest 
some  readers,  is  connected  with  a  recent  novelist.  The  visitor  to 
Fenny  Drayton  finds  himself  in  the  heart  of  "George  Eliot's 
country."  Marian  Evans  was  born  at  Nuneaton,  the  capital  of 
this  district ;  and  the  scenes  of  Adam  Bede,  Janet's  Repentance, 
Mr.  Gilfil,  and  Amos  Barton,  are  all  to  be  found  within  a  few 
miles  of  George  Fox's  birthplace. 


10 


GEORGE  FOX 


The  house  which  tradition  pointed  out  as  his  birthplace 
has  long  since  disappeared.  One  antique  cottage  which 
stood  near  to  it  remained  till  a  few  years  ago,  and  was 
rapidly  becoming  a  little  local  sanctuary ;  nay,  it  was 
on  the  point  of  being  transported  to  the  other  side  of 
the  Atlantic  by  an  enterprising  American  speculator, 
and  being  re-erected  as  the  home  of  the  friend  of  the 
founder  of  Pennsylvania.  Apparently,  however,  in 
the  course  of  the  negotiations  the  fictitious  nature  of 
its  claims  was  made  manifest,  the  proposal  was  with- 
drawn, the  house  tumbled  down,  and  the  last  vestiges  of 
its  fabric  have  recently  disappeared.  A  little  obelisk  of 
Quaker-like  simplicity  has  been  erected  within  a  hundred 
yards  or  so  of  the  site  of  the  original  cottage,  to  keep 
alive  the  memory  of  George  Fox's  birthplace. 

In  this  utter  modernization  of  the  little  hamlet, 
we  are  driven  by  the  irony  of  Fate  to  look  for  our 
only  links  of  connection  with  the  past,  in  that  build- 
ing to  which  George  Fox  would  only  allow  the 
name  of  "  steeple-house,"  and  on  which  he  would 
never  have  expected  his  remotest  disciples  to  gaze 
with  interest. 

The  church  of  Fenny  Drayton  is  a  building  chiefly 
in  the  late  Decorated  style,  but  possesses  a  rather 
peculiar  Norman  doorway  somewhat  concealed  by  a 
modern  porch.  It  has  two  aisles  and  a  chancel ;  and 
the  chief  objects  of  interest  which  it  contains  are  the 
monuments  of  the  Purefoy  family,  who  were  for  more 
than  three  centuries  the  territorial  aristocracy  of  Dray- 
ton. One  of  these  monuments  is  in  the  northern  aisle, 
which  was  apparently  a  kind  of  chapel  of  the  Purefoys, 
with  a  private  door  leading  out  to  their  closely  adjoin- 
ing manor-house.    The  other,  which  lines  the  northern 


BIRTHPLACE 


11 


wall  of  the  chancel,  and  of  which  probably  only  a  part 
is  still  remaining,  was  erected  towards  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century  by  "  Jocosa  "  (Joyce)  Purefoy,  who  had 
married  her  cousin  Edward  Purefoy  of  Shawleson,  and 
conveyed  to  him  the  lordship  of  her  father's  lands.  In 
two  long  and  pompons  inscriptions,  written  in  Latin 
hexameters,  the  stately  lady,  or  rather  the  scholar  who 
did  her  bidding,  celebrates  the  virtues  of  her  deceased 
husband,  and  describes  how  he  kept  inviolate  the  "  pure 
faith"  from  which  his  family  derived  their  name,  and 
the  courage  with  which  some  remote  ancestor  had  de- 
fended his  lord  on  the  field  of  battle  with  the  broken 
spear  which  was  ever  after  the  family's  crest.  Hundreds 
of  times  during  the  long  prelections  of  the  minister  of 
Drayton  must  the  boyish  eyes  of  Fox  have  wandered 
over  these  mysterious  monuments.  His  education  was 
too  imperfect  to  enable  him  to  comprehend  their  mean- 
ing; otherwise  we  might  please  ourselves  with  the 
thought  that  he  had  determined  to  take  for  his  own 
the  motto  of  the  Squire's  family,  pure  FOY  MA  ioye  ; 
and  we  might  recall  the  fact  that  the  great  militant 
Quietist  gazed  so  often  in  his  boyhood  on  a  line 
fancifully  adapted  from  Horace — 

"Omne  tulit  punctum  qui  miscuit  arma  quieti."1 

But  this,  we  must  admit,  is  but  a  caprice  of  the  fancy. 

The  Purefoys  of  Drayton  fell  into  difficulties  in  the 
hard-drinking  Hanoverian  times,  and  the  representa- 
tive of  the  family  towards  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  obtained  a  private  Act  of  Parliament  enabling 
him  to  alienate  his  estate.  Only  the  funereal  monu- 
ments now  remain  to  attest  the  family's  former  great- 

1  "He  gains  all  hearts  who  blendeth  war  with  rest." 


12 


GEORGE  FOX 


ness.  The  stately  manor-house  has  vanished  from  the 
earth,  its  site  only  marked  by  a  slight  inequality  which 
shows  where  the  moat  once  guarded  the  house. 

Altogether  Fenny  Drayton  somewhat  depresses  the 
visitor  by  the  conviction  which  it  forces  upon  him  of 
the  obliterating  power  of  only  two  centuries  of  time. 
One  great  natural  landmark  remains  in  the  quadran- 
gular belt  of  solemn  yew-trees  which  still  surrounds 
the  parish  church,  and  which  probably  look  very 
much  as  they  did  when  Jocosa  Purefoy  reared  her 
monument. 

"  0  not  for  thee  the  glow,  the  bloom, 
"Who  changest  not  in  any  gale, 
Nor  branding  summer  suns  avail 
To  touch  thy  thousand  years  of  gloom." 

Even  more  than  the  squire,  the  parson  of  the  parish 
must  have  exercised  a  powerful  influence  on  the  boy- 
hood of  the  future  reformer.  The  living  was  in  the 
squire's  gift,  and  George  Purefoy,  "  J ocosa's  "  son,  pre- 
sented to  it1  (probably  somewhere  about  1640)  the 
Keverend  Nathaniel  Stephens,  M.  A.,  who  held  it  till  the 
year  1662.  From  the  fact  that  Stephens  belonged  to  the 
Puritan  party  in  the  Church,  we  may  probably  infer 
that  his  patron  was  of  the  same  way  of  thinking,  and 
this  conjecture  is  confirmed  by  our  finding  that  his 
cousin,  William  Purefoy  of  Caldecote,  was  a  General  in 
the  Parliamentary  army,  and  a  diligent  member  of  the 
Court  by  which  Charles  I.  was  sentenced  to  death. 
Nathaniel  Stephens  was  the  son  of  a  Wiltshire  clergy- 
man, was  born  in  1606,  and  received  his  education  as 

1  Wood's  statement  that  Stephens  was  intruded  into  the  living 
in  1643  in  place  of  an  ejected  Episcopalian,  is  shown  by  Calamy 
to  be  erroneous. 


BIRTHPLACE 


13 


a  "  batler  "  at  Magdalen  Hall,  Oxford.  He  seems  to 
have  been  a  fair  specimen  of  the  Presbyterian  divines 
who  came  to  the  front  during  the  ascendency  of  the 
Long  Parliament.  A  staunch  defender  of  the  right  of 
the  clergy  to  tithes,  and  of  the  practice  of  infant 
baptism,  he  fought  long  paper  battles  with  the  Inde- 
pendents and  Baptists  on  these  questions.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  was  great  in  Apocalyptic  literature, 
composing  a  Plain  and  Easy  Calculation  of  the  Name, 
Mark,  and  Number  of  the  Beast,  and  was  a  thorough 
Calvinist  in  his  teaching  as  to  the  utter  depravity  of 
man,  and  in  his  defence  of  the  doctrine  of  Election  and 
Reprobation  by  God's  absolute  decree.  Any  one  who 
takes  the  trouble  to  glance  through  his  Vindicice 
Fundamenti,  or  Threefold  Defence  of  the  Doctrine  of 
Original  Sin,  with  its  wearisome  speculations  as  to 
Adam's  state  before  and  after  the  fall,  will  easily  under- 
stand how  little  help  a  tired  soul  seeking  for  rest,  and 
longing  to  hear  the  voice  of  the  Living  God,  would 
derive  from  this  self-satisfied  scholastic  divine.  Thus 
we  shall  find  that  "  Priest  Stephens  "  is  spoken  of  with 
little  gratitude  in  George  Fox's  Journal,  and  as  this  is 
practically  the  only  rock  which  raises  him  ever  so  little 
out  of  the  waters  of  oblivion,  he  has  received  from 
posterity  somewhat  harder  measure  than  he  deserves. 
It  is  clear,  indeed,  that  he  failed  to  understand  the  nature 
of  "  the  questings  and  the  guessings "  of  his  strange 
young  parishioner;  but  there  is  small  blame  to  him, 
trained  as  he  had  been,  for  such  a  failure ;  and  after  all, 
the  fact  that  he  went  forth  from  his  pleasant  rectory 
on  St.  Bartholomew's  Day  in  1662,  to  spend  the 
remaining  fifteen  years  of  his  life  in  obscurity  as  a 
Nonconformist  preacher  at  Stoke  Golding,  shows  that 


14 


GEORGE  FOX 


he  was  a  true  man,  and  willing  to  suffer  for  conscience' 
sake. 

After  this  brief  sketch  of  George  Fox's  birthplace 
we  may  proceed  to  the  story  of  his  early  years.  Our 
chief  authority  here  and  everywhere  must  be  his  own 
Journal,  but  as  that  book  reaches  to  a  thousand  octavo 
pages,  it  is  obvious  that  only  a  few  of  its  more  striking 
passages  can  be  laid  under  contribution. 


CHAPTER  III 

EARLY  LIFE 

George  Fox  was  born  in  July  1624.1  His  parents 
were  persons  in  a  humble  station,  but  apparently  not 
in  actual  poverty,  and  they  probably  belonged  to  the 
numerous  class  which  conformed  to  the  worship  of  the 
national  Church,  while  sympathizing  with  what  was 
beginning  to  be  known  as  Puritanism.  His  own  ac- 
count of  them  is  as  follows  : — 

"  My  father's  name  was  Christopher  Fox :  he  was 
by  profession  a  weaver,  an  honest  man ;  and  there  was 
a  seed  of  God  in  him.  The  neighbours  called  him 
Righteous  Christer.  My  mother  was  an  upright  woman ; 
her  maiden  name  was  Mary  Lago,  of  the  family  of  the 
Lagos,  and  of  the  stock  of  the  martyrs." 

William  Penn's  statement  is  that  "he  was  born  of 
honest  and  sufficient  parents,  who  endeavoured  to 
bring  him  up,  as  they  did  the  rest  of  their  children, 
in  the  way  and  worship  of  the  nation :  especially  his 

1  Fox  does  not  seem  to  have  known  the  exact  day  of  his  birth, 
and  unfortunately  the  blank  cannot  be  filled  up  from  the  parish 
registers,  which  have  suffered  denudation  at  the  hands  of  a 
sexton's  wife  in  the  last  century,  requiring  paper  for  her  jam- 
pots. The  present  Rector  of  Fenny  Drayton  tells  me,  however, 
that  he  has  found  the  register  of  the  baptism  of  George  Fox's 
sister  Mary. 

15 


16 


GEORGE  FOX 


mother,  who  was  a  woman  accomplished  above  most  of 
her  degree  in  the  place  where  she  lived." 

As  to  the  time  of  Fox's  birth,  we  note  in  passing 
that  it  was  in  the  year  before  the  death  of  King  James 
I.  The  old  king,  who  was  in  failing  health,  had 
practically  abandoned  the  direction  of  affairs  to  the 
Prince  of  Wales  and  his  brilliant,  unstable  friend  the 
Duke  of  Buckingham,  who  had  just  returned  from  that 
foolish  piece  of  knight-errantry,  the  journey  to  Spain. 
When  Fox  was  born,  negotiations  were  proceeding  for 
Prince  Charles's  marriage  to  the  daughter  of  Henry 
IV.  of  France,  that  marriage  which  was  one  of  the 
links  in  the  chain  of  events  which  drew  on  the  Civil 
War  and  the  bloody  tragedy  of  Whitehall. 

However  little  a  man  may  be  affected  by  the  acts 
and  thoughts  of  his  contemporaries,  it  is  always  interest- 
ing to  observe  who  those  contemporaries  were.  In  the 
year  before  Fox's  birth,  Blaise  Pascal  began  his  frail 
but  wonderful  life.  John  Dryden  (born  1631)  and 
John  Locke  (1632)  were  his  juniors  by  seven  and  eight 
years  respectively ;  and  his  birth-year  placed  him  nearly 
at  the  middle  point  between  John  Milton  (1608)  and 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  (1642). 

Yet,  as  has  been  already  hinted,  the  future  Quaker 
apostle  dwelt  mostly  in  a  sphere  apart,  very  little 
influenced  by  the  thoughts,  philosophical,  poetical,  or 
political,  of  the  men  of  his  stirring  generation.  The 
Bible  seems  to  have  been  his  only  literature,  and  it  may 
safely  be  said  that  Amos,  the  herdsman  of  Tekoa,  who 
was  separated  from  him  by  an  interval  of  twenty-four 
centuries,  had  infinitely  more  influence  on  his  mind 
than  William  Shakespeare,  who  died  but  eight  years 
before  he  came  into  the  world. 


EAELY  LIFE 


17 


So,  too,  for  the  political  events  of  his  time.  While 
he  was  passing  through  his  childhood  and  boyhood, 
the  terrible  Thirty  Years'  War  was  draining  the  life- 
blood  of  Germany;  and  Laud  and  Strafford  by  their 
policy  of  Thorough  were  gradually  alienating  the 
hearts  of  Englishmen  from  their  king,  and  preparing 
them  to  open  "  the  purple  testament  of  bleeding  war." 
The  Civil  War  began  when  Fox  was  in  the  eighteenth 
year  of  his  age,  and  lasted  till  about  the  time  when  he 
began  his  missionary  journeys.  Yet  to  all  these  events 
he  makes  no  allusion,  and  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
even  at  the  time  they  greatly  moved  him.  The  history 
of  his  own  soul,  his  struggles  with  the  power  of  dark- 
ness, his  Teachings  forth  after  the  light  and  peace  of 
God,  seem  to  have  absorbed  all  his  thoughts,  and  the 
thunderstorms  of  war  and  revolution  crashed  round 
him  unheeded. 

The  childhood  and  youth  of  George  Fox  are  thus 
described  by  William  Penn  : — 

"  But  from  a  child  he  appeared  of  another  frame  of 
mind  than  the  rest  of  his  brethren  :  being  more  religious, 
inward,  still,  solid  and  observing  beyond  his  years,  as 
the  answers  he  would  give,  and  the  questions  he  would 
put  upon  occasion,  manifested  to  the  astonishment  of 
those  that  heard  him,  especially  in  divine  things. 

"  His  mother  taking  notice  of  his  singular  temper, 
and  the  gravity,  wisdom,  and  piety  that  very  early 
shired  through  him,  refusing  childish  and  vain  sports 
and  company  when  very  young,  she  was  tender  and 
indulgent  over  him,  so  that  from  her  he  met  with  little 
difficulty.  As  to  his  employment,  he  was  brought  up 
in  country  business ;  and  as  he  took  most  delight  in 
sheep,  so  he  was  very  skilful  in  them ;  an  employment 

c 


18 


GEORGE  FOX 


that  very  well  suited  his  mind  in  several  respects,  both 
from  its  innocency  and  solitude ;  and  was  a  just  figure 
of  his  after  ministry  and  service." 

His  own  account  of  this  period  of  his  life  is  given  in 
these  words : — 

"  In  my  very  young  years  I  had  a  gravity  and  stayed- 
ness  of  mind  and  spirit  not  usual  in  children  ;  insomuch 
that  when  I  saw  old  men  carry  themselves  lightly  and 
wantonly  towards  each  other,  I  had  a  dislike  thereof 
raised  in  my  heart,  and  said  within  myself,  '  If  ever  I 
come  to  be  a  man,  surely  I  shall  not  do  so,  nor  be  so 
wanton.' 

"  When  I  came  to  eleven  years  of  age,  I  knew  pure- 
ness  and  righteousness ;  for  while  I  was  a  child  I  was 
taught  how  to  walk  to  be  kept  pure.  The  Lord  taught 
me  to  be  faithful  in  all  things,  and  to  act  faithfully  two 
ways,  viz.  inwardly  to  God,  and  outwardly  to  man ;  and 
to  keep  to  Yea  and  Nay  in  all  things.  For  the  Lord 
showed  me,  that  though  the  people  of  the  world  have 
mouths  full  of  deceit,  and  changeable  words,  yet  I  was 
to  keep  to  Yea  and  Nay  in  all  things;  and  that  my 
words  should  be  few  and  savoury,  seasoned  with  grace ; 
and  that  I  might  not  eat  and  drink  to  make  myself 
wanton,  but  for  health,  using  the  creatures  in  their 
service,  as  servants  in  their  places,  to  the  glory  of  Him 
that  hath  created  them ;  they  being  in  their  covenant, 
and  I  being  brought  into  the  covenant,  and  sanctified 
by  the  Word  which  was  in  the  beginning  by  which  all 
things  are  upheld ;  wherein  is  unity  with  the  creation. 

"  But  people  being  strangers  to  the  covenant  of  life 
with  God,  they  eat  and  drink  to  make  themselves 
wanton  with  the  creatures,  wasting  them  upon  their 
own  lusts,  and  living  in  all  filthiness,  loving  foul  ways, 


EARLY  LIFE 


19 


and  devouring  the  creation ;  and  all  this  in  the  world, 
in  the  pollutions  thereof,  without  God ;  therefore  I  was 
to  shun  all  such. 

"  Afterwards,  as  I  grew  up,  my  relations  thought  to 
make  me  a  priest,  but  others  persuaded  to  the  contrary : 
whereupon  I  was  put  to  a  man  that  was  a  shoemaker 
by  trade,  and  that  dealt  in  wool,  and  used  grazing,  and 
sold  cattle ;  and  a  great  deal  went  through  my  hands. 
While  I  was  with  him,  he  was  blessed ;  but  after  I  left 
him  he  broke,  and  came  to  nothing.  I  never  wronged 
man  or  woman  in  all  that  time ;  for  the  Lord's  power 
was  with  me,  and  over  me  to  preserve  me.  While  I 
was  in  that  service,  I  used  in  my  dealings  the  word 
Verily,  and  it  was  a  common  saying  among  the  people 
that  knew  me,  'If  George  says  Verily,  there  is  no 
altering  him.'  When  boys  and  rude  people  would  laugh 
at  me,  I  let  them  alone,  and  went  my  way ;  but  people 
had  generally  a  love  to  me  for  my  innocency  and 
honesty." 

Fox's  autobiography  constantly  reminds  us  of  the 
experiences  of  his  contemporary  John  Bunyan,  whether 
as  described  in  Grace  Abotmding,  or  as  allegorized  in 
Pilgrim's  Progress  ;  and  yet  the  relation  between  them 
is  more  often  one  of  contrast  than  of  similarity.  Thus 
here  his  spiritual  life  does  not  begin  with  that  intense 
self-loathing,  that  agony  in  the  thought  of  unforgiven 
sin,  which  is  the  keynote  of  Bunyan's  early  experience. 
Fox  does  not  feel  that  he  is  born  in  the  City  of 
Destruction,  nor  does  he  begin  his  journey  with  a 
heavy  burden  on  his  back  which  will  roll  off  at  the 
sight  of  the  Cross ;  yet  all  the  same  he  is  a  pilgrim, 
and  a  very  ardent  one,  and  he  will  have  as  little 
sympathy  with  Vanity  Fair,  and  will  suffer  as  much 


20 


GEORGE  FOX 


for  his  testimony  against  its  wickedness  as  Bunyan's 
Christian  himself.  "  When  I  came  towards  nineteen 
years  of  age,"  he  continues,  "  being  upon  business  at  a 
fair,  one  of  my  cousins,  whose  name  was  Bradford,  a 
professor,1  and  having  another  professor  with  him, 
came  to  me,  and  asked  me  to  drink  part  of  a  jug  of 
beer  with  them ;  and  I  being  thirsty,  went  in  with 
them,  for  I  loved  any  that  had  a  sense  of  good,  or  that 
did  seek  after  the  Lord.  When  we  had  drunk  a  glass 
apiece,  they  began  to  drink  healths,  and  called  for  more 
drink,  agreeing  together  that  he  that  would  not  drink 
should  pay  all.  I  was  grieved  that  any  that  made 
profession  of  religion  should  do  so.  They  grieved  me 
very  much,  having  never  had  such  a  thing  put  to  me 
before  by  any  sort  of  people,  wherefore  I  rose  up  to  go, 
and  putting  my  hand  into  my  pocket  I  took  out  a 
groat,  and  laid  it  upon  the  table  before  them,  and  said, 
'  If  it  be  so,  I  will  leave  you.'  So  I  went  away,  and 
when  I  had  done  what  business  I  had  to  do,  I  returned 
home,  but  did  not  go  to  bed  that  night,  nor  could  I 
sleep,  but  sometimes  walked  up  and  down,  and  some- 
times prayed  and  cried  to  the  Lord,  who  said  unto  me, 
'  Thou  seest  how  young  people  go  together  into  vanity, 
and  old  people  into  the  earth ;  thou  must  forsake  all, 
both  young  and  old,  and  keep  out  of  all,  'and  be  a 
stranger  unto  all.' " 

Though  not  struggling  under  the  burden  of  unforgiven 
sin,  Fox,  in  these  years  of  dawning  manhood,  was  made 
miserable  by  the  thought  of  the  evil  of  the  world  around 
him.  Perhaps,  notwithstanding  the  absence  of  all 
allusion  to  political  events,  the  miseries  and  distractions 

1  This  word  "  professor,"  which  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  Fox's 
Journal,  may  be  taken  as  practically  equivalent  to  Puritan. 


EARLY  LIFE 


21 


of  the  great  Civil  War  struck  their  own  harshly  jarring 
note  on  the  Divine  harmony  for  which  he  longed.  At 
this,  as  well  as  some  later  periods  of  his  career,  his 
words  remind  us  of  the  utterances  of  a  man  of  whom 
he  probably  never  heard — Girolamo  Savonarola.  At 
the  age  of  nineteen  Savonarola  was  seeking  solitude, 
was  composing  his  poem  on  the  Ruin  of  the  World,  had 
ever  on  his  lips  the  Virgilian  line — 

"  Heu  !  fuge  crudeles  terras,  fuge  littus  avarum  ; " 

and  three  years  later  his  depression  and  despair  drove 
him  into  the  cloister,  his  treatise  Be,  Contemptu  Mundi 
being  the  only  legacy  left  to  comfort  his  sorrowing 
father  for  the  wreck  of  the  ambitious  hopes  which  had 
gathered  round  this  favourite  son. 

To  Fox  the  shelter  of  the  convent  was  of  course  not 
accessible,  but  he  broke  off  his  intercourse  with  his 
family  as  completely  as  if  he  had  turned  monk.  His 
narrative  proceeds — "  Then  at  the  command  of  God,  on 
the  ninth  day  of  the  seventh  month  1643,  I  left  my 
relations,  and  broke  off  all  familiarity  or  fellowship  with 
old  or  young."  For  the  next  three  or  four  years  he  seems 
to  have  led  a  wandering  life,  moving  about  through  the 
home  counties,  but  spending  several  months  at  Barnet, 
and  afterwards  in  London.  At  Barnet,  when  he  was  walk- 
ing solitary  in  Enfield  Chace,  the  temptation  to  despair 
came  over  him.  He  thought  that  his  fear  of  desertion 
by  God  might  be  a  judgment  upon  him  for  leaving  his 
relations,  but  he  was  comforted  in  the  thought  that 
even  Christ  was  also  tempted.  The  "  great  professors  " 
of  London  could  not  help  him,  nor  yet  could  an  uncle 
of  his  who  belonged  to  the  Baptist  community,  though, 
as  he  says,  "  they  were  tender  then."    He  returned  into 


22 


GEORGE  FOX 


Leicestershire,  and  his  relations,  fearing  probably  for 
his  reason,  urged  him  to  marry,  "  but  I  told  them  I  was 
but  a  lad  and  must  get  wisdom.  Others  would  have 
had  me  into  the  auxiliary  band  among  the  soldiery " 
(we  have  now  reached  1645,  the  year  of  the  battle  of 
Naseby),  "  but  I  refused :  and  I  was  grieved  that  they 
proffered  such  things  to  me  being  a  tender  youth.  Then 
I  went  to  Coventry,  where  I  took  a  chamber  for  a  while 
at  a  professor's  house,  till  people  began  to  be  acquainted 
with  me ;  for  there  were  many  tender  people  in  that 
town."  We  are  already  making  acquaintance  with  this 
word  "  tender,"  which  is  a  favourite  expression  of  Fox's 
throughout  the  Journal,  denoting,  not  delicacy  of  the 
physical  frame,  for  he  and  his  disciples  endured  hard- 
ships which  might  break  down  the  strongest  constitu- 
tion, but  delicacy  of  spiritual  perception,  unwillingness 
to  be  satisfied  with  the  polemical  theology  of  the 
ordinary  Puritan — a  desire  to  get  into  communion  with 
the  Spirit  of  the  Eternal  One,  and  to  learn  His  will. 
He  returned  to  his  native  village,  and  now  at  length,  if 
not  before,  had  some  converse  with  the  parson  of  his 
parish,  and  with  some  of  the  neighbouring  divines  about 
the  state  of  his  soul.  To  quote  again  from  the  Journal : 
"  The  priest  of  Drayton,  the  town  of  my  birth,  whose 
name  was  Nathaniel  Stevens  (sic),  came  often  to  me, 
and  I  went  often  to  him  ;  and  another  priest  sometimes 
came  with  him  ;  and  they  would  give  place  to  me  to 
hear  me,  and  I  would  ask  them  questions,  and  reason 
with  them.  And  this  priest  Stevens  asked  me  a 
question,  viz.  Why  Christ  cried  out  upon  the  cross, 
'  My  God,  My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  ? 
and  why  He  said,  '  If  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass 
from  Me ;  yet  not  My  will,  but  Thine  be  done '  ?  I 


EARLY  LIFE 


23 


told  him  that  at  that  time  the  sins  of  all  mankind 
were  upon  Him,  and  their  iniquities  and  transgressions 
with  which  He  was  wounded,  which  He  was  to  bear, 
and  to  be  an  offering  for,  as  He  was  man,  but  He  died 
not,  as  He  was  God  :  and  so,  in  that  He  died  for  all 
men,  and  tasted  death  for  every  man,  He  was  an 
offering  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.  This  I  spoke, 
being  at  that  time  in  a  measure  sensible  of  Christ's 
sufferings  and  what  He  went  through.  And  the  priest 
said,  '  It  was  a  very  good,  full  answer,  and  such  a  one 
as  he  had  not  heard.'  At  that  time  he  would  applaud 
and  speak  highly  of  me  to  others ;  and  what  I  said  in 
discourse  to  him  on  the  week-days,  that  he  would  preach 
on  the  first-days,  for  which  I  did  not  like  him.  This 
priest  afterwards  became  my  great  persecutor. 

"After  this  I  went  to  another  ancient  priest  at 
Mancetter  in  Warwickshire,  and  reasoned  with  him 
about  the  ground  of  despair  and  temptations  ;  but  he 
was  ignorant  of  my  condition :  he  bid  me  take 
tobacco  and  sing  psalms.  Tobacco  was  a  thing  I  did 
not  love,  and  psalms  I  was  not  in  a  state  to  sing;  I 
could  not  sing.  Then  he  bid  me  come  again,  and  he 
would  tell  me  many  things ;  but  when  I  came  he  was 
angry  and  pettish,  for  my  former  words  had  displeased 
him.  He  told  my  troubles,  sorrows,  and  griefs  to  his 
servants,  so  that  it  was  got  among  the  milk-lasses ; 
which  grieved  me  that  I  should  open  my  mind  to  such 
a  one.  I  saw  they  were  all  miserable  comforters,  and 
this  brought  my  troubles  more  upon  me.  Then  I 
heard  of  a  priest  living  about  Tamworth,  who  was 
accounted  an  experienced  man,  and  I  went  seven  miles 
to  him ;  but  I  found  him  only  like  an  empty,  hollow 
cask.     I  heard  also  of  one  called  Dr.  Cradock,  of 


24 


GEORGE  FOX 


Coventry,  and  went  to  him;  I  asked  him  the  ground 
of  temptations  and  despair,  and  how  troubles  came  to 
be  wrought  in  man  ?  He  asked  me,  Who  was  Christ's 
father  and  mother  ?  I  told  him,  Mary  was  His  mother, 
and  that  He  was  supposed  to  be  the  son  of  Joseph,  but 
He  was  the  son  of  God.  Now  as  we  were  walking 
together  in  his  garden,  the  alley  being  narrow,  I 
chanced,  in  turning,  to  set  my  foot  on  the  side  of  a  bed, 
at  which  the  man  was  in  a  rage  as  if  his  house  had 
been  on  fire.  Thus  all  our  discourse  was  lost,  and  I 
went  away  in  sorrow,  worse  than  I  was  when  I  came. 
I  thought  them  miserable  comforters,  and  saw  they 
were  all  as  nothing  to  me ;  for  they  could  not  reach 
my  condition.  After  this  I  went  to  another,  one 
Macham,  a  priest  in  high  account.1  He  would  needs 
give  me  some  physic,  and  I  was  to  have  been  let 
blood ;  but  they  could  not  get  one  drop  of  blood  from 
me,  either  in  arms  or  head  (though  they  endeavoured 

1  "  This  Macham,  a  priest  in  high  account,"  seems  to  have  been 
a  man  of  George  Fox's  own  age— John  Machin  (1624 — 1664),  of 
whom  there  is  a  long  account  in  Calamy's  Ejected  Ministers.  He 
was  born  in  1624,  educated  at  Jesus  College,  Cambridge,  and 
ordained  in  1644.  He  came  to  Atherstone  as  lecturer  in  1652.  We 
should  be  naturally  disposed  to  connect  the  entry  in  the  Journal 
with  this  part  of  Machin' s  career,  as  Atherstone  is  only  a  few  miles 
from  Fenny  Drayton ;  but  if  so  it  must  be  mentioned  by  Fox 
out  of  its  chronological  order.  Machin  went  from  Atherstone 
into  Cheshire  in  1654.  At  the  Restoration  he  held  the  living 
of  Whitley  in  that  county,  and  was  ejected  from  it  on  St. 
Bartholomew's  Day.  "  And  hardly  any  one  bore  his  ejectment 
with  less  reflection  upon  superiors,  or  with  more  grief  for  so  sad 
a  dispensation.  The  neighbouring  gentry,  convinced  of  his 
integrity,  and  the  peaceableness  of  his  spirit,  gave  him  no 
molestation.  Several  of  his  old  neighbours  going  to  see  him,  he 
dropped  the  words,  '  Ah  !  my  friends !  I  never  lived  since 
I  died.'  His  death  happening  soon  after,  viz.  September  6,  1664, 
made  them  conclude  that  being  silenced  broke  his  heart.  He 
was  not  above  forty  years  of  age." 


EARLY  LIFE 


25 


it),  my  body  being,  as  it  were,  dried  up  with  sorrows, 
grief,  and  troubles,  which  were  so  great  upon  me  that 
I  could  have  wished  I  had  never  been  born,  or  that  I 
had  been  born  blind,  that  I  might  never  have  seen 
wickedness  or  vanity;  and  deaf,  that  I  might  never 
have  heard  vain  and  wicked  words,  or  the  Lord's  name 
blasphemed.  When  the  time  called  Christmas  came, 
while  others  were  feasting  and  sporting  themselves, 
I  looked  out  poor  widows  from  house  to  house,  and 
gave  them  some  money.  When  I  was  invited  to 
marriages  (as  I  sometimes  was),  I  went  to  none  at  all, 
but  the  next  day,  or  soon  after,  I  would  go  and  visit 
them ;  and  if  they  were  poor,  I  gave  them  some  money ; 
for  I  had  wherewith  both  to  keep  myself  from  being 
chargeable  to  others,  and  to  administer  something  to 
the  necessities  of  others." 

In  the  year  1646  the  spiritual  conflict  grows  lighter, 
and  he  seems  to  have  a  clearer  perception  of  a  distinct 
Divine  call  to  his  own  soul,  making  him  independent 
of  such  helpers  as  "priest  Stevens"  or  Dr.  Cradock. 
He  has,  as  he  terms  it,  "  great  openings." 

"  As  I  was  walking  in  a  field  on  a  first  day  [Sunday] 
morning,  the  Lord  opened  unto  me,  that  being  bred 
at  Oxford  or  Cambridge  was  not  enough  to  fit  or 
qualify  men  to  be  ministers  of  Christ,  and  I  wondered 
at  it,  because  it  was  the  common  belief  of  people.  But 
I  saw  it  clearly  as  the  Lord  opened  it  to  me,  and  was 
satisfied,  and  admired  the  goodness  of  the  Lord,  who 
had  opened  this  thing  unto  me  that  morning."  He 
feels  that  this  strikes  at  "  priest  Stevens's"  ministry,  and 
to  the  great  trouble  of  his  relations  he  will  no  longer 
go  with  them  to  hear  the  priest,  but  wanders  through 
the  fields  or  the  orchard  alone  with  his  Bible. 


26 


GEORGE  FOX 


At  another  time  it  is  "  opened  "  to  him,  "  That  God, 
who  made  the  world,  did  not  dwell  in  temples  made 
with  hands."  This  seems  to  him  a  strange  word, 
because  both  priests  and  people  used  to  call  their 
temples  or  churches  dreadful  places,  holy  ground,  and 
the  temple  of  God.  It  is  in  consequence  of  this 
"  opening,"  and  from  a  feeling  that  the  word  Church 
denotes  a  spiritual  reality,  and  should  not  be  applied 
to  any  building,  that  he  from  this  time  forward,  with 
scrupulous  persistency,  calls  the  edifices  set  apart  for 
public  worship,  not  churches,  but  "  steeple-houses." 

All  this  new  development,  of  course,  brings  him  into 
collision  with  his  former  friend  and  counsellor  "priest 
Stevens,"  who,  while  he  is  walking  in  the  fields,  comes 
to  the  house  of  his  relations  to  inquire  after  him,  and 
tells  them  that  he  is  afraid  of  George  for  going  after 
new  lights.  "  At  this,"  he  says,  "  I  smiled  in  myself, 
knowing  what  the  Lord  had  opened  in  me  concerning 
him  and  his  brethren,  but  I  told  not  my  relations,  who, 
though  they  saw  beyond  the  priests,  yet  they  went  to 
hear  them,  and  were  grieved  because  I  would  not  go 
also.  But  I  brought  them  Scriptures,  and  told  them 
there  was  an  anointing  within  man  to  teach  him,  and 
that  the  Lord  would  teach  His  people  Himself." 

After  these  "openings"  about  clergymen  and  churches 
he  tells  us  that  he  regarded  the  priests  (the  Presbyterian 
clergy  of  the  Church  of  England)  less,  and  looked  more 
after  "  the  Dissenting  people." 

"  Among  them  I  saw  there  was  some  tenderness ;  and 
many  of  them  came  afterwards  to  be  convinced,  for 
they  had  some  openings.  But  as  I  had  forsaken  the 
priests,  so  I  left  the  separate  preachers  also,  and  those 
called  the  most  experienced  people;  for  I  saw  there 


EARLY  LIFE 


27 


was  none  among  them  all  that  could  speak  to  my 
condition.  When  all  my  hopes  in  them  and  in  all  men 
were  gone,  so  that  I  had  nothing  outwardly  to  help  me, 
nor  could  I  tell  what  to  do :  then,  0  !  then  I  heard  a 
voice  which  said,  'There  is  one,  even  Christ  Jesus,  that 
can  speak  to  thy  condition ; '  and  when  I  heard  it,  my 
heart  did  leap  for  joy.  Then  the  Lord  let  me  see  why 
there  was  none  upon  the  earth  that  could  speak  to  my 
condition,  namely,  that  I  might  give  Him  all  the  glory ; 
for  all  are  concluded  under  sin,  and  shut  up  in  unbelief, 
as  I  had  been,  that  Jesus  Christ  might  have  the  pre- 
eminence, who  enlightens,  and  gives  grace,  faith,  and 
power.  Thus  when  God  doth  work,  who  shall  let  it  ? 
and  this  I  knew  experimentally.  My  desires  after  the 
Lord  grew  stronger,  and  zeal  in  the  pure  knowledge  of 
God,  and  of  Christ  alone,  without  the  help  of  any  man, 
book,  or  writing.  For  though  I  read  the  Scriptures, 
that  spoke  of  Christ  and  of  God,  yet  I  knew  Him  not, 
but  by  revelation,  as  He  who  hath  the  key  did  open, 
and  as  the  Father  of  Life  drew  me  to  His  Son  by  His 
Spirit.  Then  the  Lord  gently  led  me  along,  and  let 
me  see  His  love,  which  was  endless  and  eternal,  sur- 
passing all  the  knowledge  that  men  have  in  the  natural 
state,  or  can  get  by  history  or  books ;  and  that  love  let 
me  see  myself,  as  I  was  without  Him.  I  was  afraid  of 
all  company,  for  I  saw  them  perfectly  where  they  were, 
through  the  love  of  God,  which  let  me  see  myself.  I 
had  not  fellowship  with  any  people,  priests,  or  pro- 
fessors, or  any  sort  of  separated  people,  but  with  Christ, 
who  hath  the  key,  and  opened  the  door  of  Light  and 
Life  unto  me." 

Another  of  his  "openings"  seems  to  have  been  in 
antagonism  to  the  narrowness  of  the  religious  teaching 


28 


GEORGE  FOX 


of  the  day,  Reformers  and  Catholics  alike  practically 
denying  to  one  another  the  possibility  of  salvation. 

"  About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1646,  as  I  was 
going  to  Coventry,  and  approaching  towards  the  gate,  a 
consideration  arose  in  me,  how  it  was  said,  that  '  all 
Christians  are  believers,  both  Protestants  and  Papists ' ; 
and  the  Lord  opened  to  me  that,  if  all  were  believers, 
then  they  were  all  born  of  God,  and  passed  from  death 
unto  life  ;  and  that  none  were  true  believers  but  such  ; 
and  though  others  said  they  were  believers,  yet  they 
were  not." 

It  is  important  to  bear  this  saying  of  Fox's  in  mind, 
for  it  strikes  the  keynote  of  much  of  his  later  teaching. 
Harsh  and  intolerant  as  many  of  his  utterances  seem, 
they  are  directed  against  insincerity  and  hypocrisy  (real 
or  supposed),  rather  than  against  doctrinal  views  differ- 
ing from  his  own.  Toward  the  Roman  Catholics 
especially  the  attitude  of  Fox  and  his  followers  seems 
always  to  have  been  more  friendly  than  that  of  the 
other  Protestant  sects,  notwithstanding  the  hopeless 
divergence  of  their  religious  teaching.  It  is  thus  not 
altogether  surprising  that  they  were  often  accused  of 
being  Papists  in  disguise :  and  even  William  Penn's 
friendly  response  at  a  later  day  to  the  advances  of 
James  II.,  and  his  willingness  to  accept  toleration  at 
his  hands,  though  not  approved  of  by  the  majority  of 
his  brethren,  were  not  altogether  inconsistent  with  this 
earliest  attitude  of  Quakerism. 

Another  point  which  may  be  noticed  in  this  narrative 
of  Fox's  early  years,  is  his  extraordinary  silence  as  to 
those  who  were  most  nearly  connected  with  him  by  blood. 
After  those  few  opening  sentences  in  the  Journal,  we  hear 
nothing  more  about  his  parents;  and  the  "relations" 


EARLY  LIFE 


29 


who  have  been  slightly  alluded  to  in  the  extracts 
already  quoted,  are  mere  shadowy  forms  to  us,  even  the 
degree  of  their  relationship  to  the  writer  not  being 
stated.  Something  like  this  appears  to  have  been  the 
mood  of  mind  in  which  most  of  the  early  Friends 
looked  back  upon  their  old  homes,  and  on  those  who 
had  once  inhabited  them.  They  have  themselves 
passed  through  the  Red  Sea,  and  care  not  to  ask  or  to 
tell  of  what  may  have  happened  in  the  land  of  Egypt. 
Thus  it  comes  to  pass  that,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
the  pedigrees  of  modern  Quaker  families  go  up  to  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  there  stop. 
There  is  generally  full  and  precise  information  up  to 
the  first  member  of  the  family  who  was  a  Quaker,  and 
beyond  that  all  is  a  blank. 

These  years  between  1643  and  1647  are  evidently 
the  formative  period  of  his  spiritual  character — years 
undoubtedly  of  great  sadness  and  struggle.  "  I  cannot 
declare,"  he  says,  "  the  misery  I  was  in,  it  was  so  great 
and  heavy  upon  me ; "  but  the  trial  seems  to  have  been 
bravely  borne,  and  we  have  no  hint  of  any  of  those 
suggestions  of  suicide  which  are  so  frequent  in  cases  of 
religious  melancholia.  In  the  history  of  most  of  the  men 
who  have  exercised  a  powerful  influence  on  the  souls  of 
their  fellow-men,  there  has  generally  been  a  time  of 
depression  like  that  through  which  Fox  was  now 
passing.  As  the  Apostle  Paul  says,  "  Knowing  there- 
fore the  terror  of  the  Lord,  we  persuade  men  ; "  and  it 
is  perhaps  necessary  that  those  spirits  which  will  be 
brought  often  into  fierce  collision  with  "  the  rulers 
of  the  darkness  of  this  world,"  should  have  passed 
through  a  time  of  mental  strife  and  agony,  which 
makes  all  the  mere  bodily  sufferings  and  hardships 


30 


GEORGE  FOX 


that  they  will  have  afterwards  to  endure  seem  light 
in  comparison. 

Nor  was  his  sky  all  dark  even  in  this  time  of  trial. 
As  he  could  not  declare  the  misery,  so  neither  could  he 
set  forth  the  mercies  of  God  to  him  in  all  his  misery. 
He  "sees  the  great  love  of  God,  and  is  filled  with 
admiration  at  the  infiniteness  of  it " :  when  he  returns 
home  after  a  solitary  walk  he  is  "  wrapped  up  in  the 
love  of  God,  so  that  I  could  not  but  admire  the  great- 
ness of  His  love." 

"  While  I  was  in  that  condition,  it  was  opened  unto 
me  by  the  eternal  light  and  power,  and  I  therein 
clearly  saw  '  that  all  was  done,  and  to  be  done,  in  and 
by  Christ;  and  how  He  conquers  and  destroys  this 
tempter,  the  devil,  and  all  his  works,  and  is  a-top  of 
him ;  and  that  all  these  troubles  were  good  for  me,  and 
temptations  for  the  trial  of  my  faith,  which  Christ  had 
given  me.'  The  Lord  opened  me,  that  I  saw  through 
all  these  troubles  and  temptations;  my  living  faith 
was  raised,  that  I  saw  all  was  done  by  Christ,  the  Life, 
and  my  belief  was  in  Him.  When  at  any  time  my 
condition  was  veiled,  my  secret  belief  was  stayed  firm, 
and  hope  underneath  held  me,  as  an  anchor  in  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  and  anchored  my  immortal  soul  to 
its  Bishop,  causing  it  to  swim  above  the  sea,  the  world, 
where  all  the  raging  waves,  foul  weather,  tempests  and 
temptations  are.  But  oh  !  then  did  I  see  my  troubles, 
trials,  and  temptations  more  clearly  than  ever  I  had 
done.  As  the  light  appeared,  all  appeared  that  is  out 
of  the  light ;  darkness,  death,  temptations,  the  un- 
righteous, the  ungodly,  all  was  manifest  and  seen  in 
the  light.  After  this,  a  pure  fire  appeared  in  me ;  then 
I  saw  how  He  sat  as  a  refiner's  fire,  and  as  fullers'  soap ; 


EARLY  LIFE 


31 


then  the  spiritual  discerning  came  into  me,  by  which  I 
did  discern  my  own  thoughts,  groans,  and  sighs ;  and 
what  it  was  that  veiled  me,  and  what  it  was  that 
opened  me.  That  which  could  not  abide  in  the  patience, 
nor  endure  the  fire,  in  the  light  I  found  it  to  be  the 
groans  of  the  flesh,  that  could  not  give  up  to  the  will  of 
God,  which  had  so  veiled  me,  that  I  could  not  be 
patient  in  all  trials,  troubles,  and  anguishes  and  per- 
plexities ;  could  not  give  up  self  to  die  by  the  cross,  the 
power  of  God,  that  the  living  and  quickened  might 
follow  Him  ;  and  that  that  which  would  cloud  and  veil 
from  the  presence  of  Christ,  that  which  the  sword  of 
the  Spirit  cuts  down,  and  which  must  die,  might  not  be 
kept  alive." 

While  he  is  in  this  seething  condition  of  soul,  he  is 
tremulously  sensitive  to  the  spiritual  phenomena  of  those 
years  of  national  excitement  and  unrest.  He  hears  of  a 
woman  in  Lancashire  that  had  fasted  two-and-twenty 
days,  and  he  travels  to  see  her ;  "  but  when  I  came  to 
her  I  saw  that  she  was  under  temptation.  When  I 
had  spoken  to  her  what  I  had  from  the  Lord,  I  left 
her,  her  father  being  one  high  in  profession.  Passing 
on,  I  went  among  the  professors  at  Duckingfield  and 
Manchester,  where  I  stayed  awhile,  and  declared  truth 
among  them.  There  were  some  convinced,  who  received 
the  Lord's  teaching,  by  which  they  were  confirmed  and 
stood  in  the  truth.  But  the  professors  were  in  a  rage, 
all  pleading  for  sin  and  imperfection,  and  could  not 
endure  to  hear  talk  of  perfection,  and  of  a  holy  and 
sinless  life.  But  the  Lord's  power  was  over  all ;  though 
they  were  chained  under  darkness  and  sin,  which  they 
pleaded  for,  and  quenched  the  tender  thing  in  them." 

On  the  whole,  the  spiritual  history  of  these  years 


32 


GEORGE  FOX 


of  struggle  seems  to  be  best  described  by  some  words 
which  come  near  their  close.  He  has  had  shown  to 
him  by  the  Lord  "  the  natures  of  those  things  which 
were  hurtful  without,  [but]  were  [really]  within  in  the 
hearts  and  minds  of  wicked  men :  the  natures  of  dogs, 
swine,  vipers,  of  Sodom  and  Egypt,  Pharaoh,  Cain, 
Ishmael,  Esau,  etc."    Then  he  goes  on — 

"  I  cried  to  the  Lord,  saying,  '  Why  should  I  be  thus, 
seeing  I  was  never  addicted  to  commit  those  evils  ? ' 
and  the  Lord  answered,  '  That  it  was  needful  I  should 
have  a  sense  of  all  conditions,  how  else  should  I  speak 
to  all  conditions  ! '  and  in  this  I  saw  the  infinite  love  of 
God.  I  saw  also,  that  there  was  an  ocean  of  darkness 
and  death ;  but  an  infinite  ocean  of  light  and  love, 
which  flowed  over  the  ocean  of  darkness.  In  that 
also  I  saw  the  infinite  love  of  God,  and  I  had  great 
openings." 


CHAPTER  IV 


fox's  message 

The  spiritual  conflicts  described  in  the  last  chapter 
having  come  to  an  end,  external  conflicts  took  their  place. 
The  militant  preacher  replaces  the  solitary  searcher  after 
truth.  About  the  year  1648  Fox  seems  to  have  begun 
that  series  of  missionary  journeys  which,  except  for  his 
long  intervals  of  imprisonment,  may  be  said  to  have  lasted 
for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  went  sometimes  on  foot, 
sometimes  on  horseback,  and  though  he  occasionally 
speaks  of  himself  as  sleeping  under  a  haystack,  he 
does  not  appear  to  have  ever  lacked  money  for  his 
simple  travelling  expenses.  How  far  his  parents  and 
family  sympathized  with  him  in  his  work  it  is  not  easy 
to  ascertain,  but  at  any  rate  they  seem  always  to  have 
supplied  him  with  what  was  needful  for  his  main- 
tenance. Of  the  personal  appearance  of  the  young 
preacher  at  this  time  we  do  not  hear  much,  but  from 
the  words  long  afterwards  applied  to  him  by  Ellwood 
("  graceful  he  was  in  countenance,  manly  in  personage  "), 
we  may  suppose  that  in  his  early  manhood  he  was  "  a 
personable  man."  His  attire  was  simple,  but  what 
seems  most  to  have  impressed  the  beholders  was  not 
its  shape  but  its  material.  "  It  is  indeed  true,"  says 
the  Quaker  historian  Sewel,  "  what  a  certain  author, 

33  D 


34 


GEORGE  FOX 


viz.  Gerard  Croese,  relates  of  him,  that  he  was  clothed 
with  leather ;  but  not,  as  the  said  author  adds,  because 
he  could  not  or  would  not  forget  his  former  leather- 
work  :  but  it  was  partly  for  the  simplicity  of  that  dress, 
and  also  because  such  a  clothing  was  strong,  and  needed 
but  little  mending  or  repairing,  which  was  commodious 
for  him  who  had  no  steady  dwelling-place,  and  every- 
where in  his  travelling  about  sought  to  live  in  a  lonely 
state."  1  Carlyle,  in  a  well-known  passage  in  Sartor 
JRcsartus,  indulges  in  a  fine  burst  of  rhapsodical  de- 
clamation over  these  leathern  garments,  but  it  does  not 
appear  that  Fox  himself,  or  his  contemporaries,  con- 
sidered that  there  was  anything  extraordinary  in  his 
choosing  skin  rather  than  wool  for  the  material  of  his 
clothing.  His  only  allusion  to  it  I  believe  is  contained 
in  one  passage,  in  which  he  says,  "  The  Lord's  everlasting 
power  was  over  the  world,  and  reached  to  the  hearts  of 
people,  and  made  both  priests  and  professors  tremble. 
It  shook  the  earthly  and  airy  spirit  in  which  they  held 
their  profession  of  religion  and  worship,  so  that  it  was 
a  dreadful  thing  unto  them  when  it  was  told  them, 
'  The  man  in  leather  breeches  is  come.' " 

Let  us  consider  what  were  the  cardinal  truths  which 
George  Fox,  setting  forth  on  his  missionary  journeys, 
believed  himself  commissioned  to  proclaim. 

1.  First  and  foremost  the  doctrine  of  the  "Inward 
Light." — "  I  saw  that  Christ  died  for  all  men,  and  was 
a  propitiation  for  all,  and  enlightened  all  men  and 
women  with  His  divine  and  saving  light,  and  that  none 
could  be  a  true  believer  but  who  also  believed  in  it.  I 
saw  that  the  grace  of  God,  which  bringeth  salvation, 
has  appeared  to  all  men,  and  that  the  manifestation 

1  Hist,  of  Society  of  Friends,  i.  33  (Ed.  1833). 


FOX'S  MESSAGE 


35 


of  the  Spirit  of  God  was  given  to  every  man  to  profit 
withal.  These  things  I  did  not  see  by  the  help  of 
man,  nor  by  the  letter,  though  they  are  written  in  the 
letter,  but  I  saw  them  in  the  light  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  by  His  immediate  spirit  and  power,  as  did 
the  holy  men  of  God  by  whom  the  Holy  Scriptures 
were  written.  .  .  .  With  and  by  this  divine  power  and 
Spirit  of  God,  and  the  light  of  Jesus,  I  was  to  bring 
people  off  from  their  own  ways  to  Christ,  the  new  and 
living  way  :  and  from  their  churches  which  men  had 
made  and  gathered,  to  the  Church  in  God,  the  general 
assembly  written  in  heaven,  which  Christ  is  the  head 
of.  .  .  .  And  I  was  to  bring  people  off  from  all  the 
world's  religions,  which  are  vain;  that  they  might 
know  the  pure  religion,  might  visit  the  fatherless,  the 
widows,  and  the  strangers,  and  keep  themselves  from 
the  spots  of  the  world.  Then  there  would  not  be  so 
many  beggars,  the  sight  of  whom  often  grieved  my 
heart,  as  it  denoted  so  much  hard-heartedness  amongst 
them  that  professed  the  name  of  Christ.  I  was  to 
bring  them  off  from  all  the  world's  fellowships,  and 
prayings,  and  singings,  which  stood  in  forms  without 
power ;  that  their  fellowship  might  be  in  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  in  the  Eternal  Spirit  of  God;  that  they 
might  pray  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  sing  in  the  Spirit 
and  with  the  grace  that  comes  by  Jesus.  .  .  . 

"I  was  to  bring  people  off  from  Jewish  ceremonies 
and  from  heathenish  fables,  and  from  men's  inventions 
and  windy  doctrines,  by  which  they  blew  the  people 
about  this  way  and  the  other  way,  from  sect  to  sect ; 
and  [from]  all  their  beggarly  rudiments,  with  their 
schools  and  colleges  for  making  ministers  of  Christ, 
who  are  indeed  ministers  of  their  own  making,  but  not 


.3(1 


GEORGE  FOX 


of  Christ's ;  and  from  all  their  images  and  crosses,  and 
sprinkling  of  infants,  with  all  their  holy  days  (so 
called),  and  all  their  vain  traditions  which  they  had 
instituted  since  the  apostles'  days,  which  the  Lord's 
power  was  against ;  in  the  dread  and  authority  of 
which,  I  was  moved  to  declare  against  them  all,  and 
against  all  that  preached  not  freely,  as  being  such  as 
had  not  received  freely  from  Christ."  1 

It  may  be  inferred  from  this  and  similar  passages  that 
though  the  "  Inward  Light "  is  the  main  article  of  Fox's 
preaching,  many  other  things,  the  disuse  of  sacraments, 
the  abandonment  of  a  liturgy,  silent  worship,  unpaid 
ministry,  are  all  in  his  mind  necessary  consequences 
of  that  doctrine. 

2.  Christian  Perfection. — As  has  been  said,  the  domi- 
nant teaching  in  Fox's  earlier  years  was  Calvinist ;  and 
Calvinism,  especially  in  the  mouths  of  the  "  professors  " 
who  had  taken  it  up  from  worldly  motives,  had  ever  a 
tendency  to  slide  down  into  Antinomianism.  Much  of 
Fox's  preaching  was  directed  against  these  doctrines, 
against  what  he  called  "  pleading  for  sin,"  and  towards 
the  possibility  of  attaining  a  state  of  Christian  perfection. 

"While  I  was  in  prison,"  he  says  (at  Derby),  "divers 
professors  came  to  discourse  with  me,  and  I  had  a  sense 
before  they  spoke  that  they  came  to  plead  for  sin  and 
imperfection.  I  asked  them,  '  Whether  they  were  be- 
lievers and  had  faith  ? '  and  they  said,  '  Yes.'  I  asked 
them,  '  In  whom  ? '  and  they  said,  '  In  Christ.'  I 
replied,  '  If  ye  are  true  believers  in  Christ,  you  are 
passed  from  death  unto  life,  and  if  passed  from  death, 
then  from  sin  that  bringeth  death.  And  if  your  faith 
be  true,  it  will  give  you  victory  over  sin  and  the  devil, 

1  I.  37. 


FOX'S  MESSAGE 


37 


purify  your  hearts  and  consciences  (for  the  true  faith 
is  held  in  a  pure  conscience),  and  bring  you  to  please 
God,  and  give  you  access  to  Him  again.'  But  they  could 
not  endure  to  hear  of  purity,  and  of  victory  over  sin  and 
the  devil ;  for  they  said  they  could  not  believe  that  any 
could  be  free  from  sin  on  this  side  the  grave.  I  bid 
them  give  over  babbling  about  the  Scriptures,  which  were 
holy  men's  words,  whilst  they  pleaded  for  unholiness."  1 

But  these  discussions  on  the  higher  points  of  the 
Christian  life,  and  even  the  disuse  of  sacraments,  might 
possibly,  in  that  age  of  unsettlement  and  debate,  have 
failed  to  bring  Fox  and  his  friends  into  collision  with 
the  ruling  powers.  The  two  points  of  practice  which 
perpetually  brought  them  into  conflict  with  the  author- 
ities, and  which  more  than  anything  else  caused  them 
to  spend  years  of  their  lives  in  the  detestable  prisons 
of  seventeenth-century  England,  were  their  scruples 
about  oaths  and  "  hat-worship." 

3.  Judicial  swearing  as  well  as  profane  swearing,  are 
in  Fox's  view  forbidden  by  Christ. — As  he  expressed  it 
in  a  short  paper  which  was  meant  to  be  handed  to  the 
magistrates,  "  The  world  saith,  '  Kiss  the  book,'  but  the 
book  saith,  '  Kiss  the  Son,  lest  He  be  angry.'  And  the 
Son  saith,  '  Swear  not  at  all,  but  keep  to  Yea  and  Nay 
in  all  your  communications,  for  whatsoever  is  more  than 
this  cometh  of  evil.'  "  2 

Again  in  1665,  when  Fox  was  in  prison  at  Scarbro', 
Dr.  Cradock  came  with  a  great  company,  and  asked 
him,  "  What  he  was  in  prison  for  ? "  "I  told  him,  '  for 
obeying  the  command  of  Christ  and  the  apostle  in  not 
swearing.  But  if  he,  being  both  a  doctor  and  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  could  convince  me  that  after  Christ  and 

1  I.  56.  2  I.  521. 


38 


GEORGE  FOX 


the  apostle  had  forbidden  swearing,  they  commanded 
Christians  to  swear,  then  I  would  swear.  Here  was 
the  Bible,'  I  told  him,  '  he  might  if  he  could  show  me 
any  such  command.'  The  Doctor  quoted  the  text, 
'Ye  shall  swear  in  truth  and  righteousness.'  'Ay, 
it  was  written  so  in  Jeremiah's  time,  but  that  was 
many  ages  before  Christ  commanded  not  to  swear 
at  all ;  but  where  is  it  written  so,  since  Christ  forbade 
all  swearing  ?  I  could  bring  as  many  instances  for 
swearing  out  of  the  Old  Testament  as  thou,  and  it  may 
be  more  ;  but  of  what  force  are  they  to  prove  swearing 
lawful  in  the  New  Testament,  since  Christ  and  the 
apostle  had  forbade  it  ? ' " 

The  English  State  and  the  followers  of  George  Fox 
have  long  ago  agreed  to  a  compromise  on  this  question 
of  the  oath.  While  the  Church  of  England  and  the 
great  majority  of  Englishmen  hold  in  all  good  faith 
that  it  was  not  oaths  in  a  court  of  justice,  but  profane 
swearing,  which  Jesus  Christ  meant  to  prohibit,  they 
recognize  that  the  disciples  of  Fox  in  equal  good  faith 
hold  an  opposite  opinion,  and  that,  like  the  "  verily  "  of 
the  first  Quaker,  the  simple  affirmation  of  his  followers 
is  a  sufficient  guarantee  for  truthful  evidence.  Thus 
not  only  the  Quakers,  but  all  persons  who  profess  to 
have  a  conscientious  objection  to  taking  an  oath,  are 
now  relieved  from  that  obligation.  But  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  oath-taking  was  the  very  corner-stone 
of  the  Commonwealth.  Who  were  those  "  recusants " 
whose  partial  toleration  formed  such  a  constant  bone  of 
contention  between  Charles  and  his  Parliaments  ?  who 
but  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  refused  to  take  the  oaths 
of  Supremacy  and  Abjuration  ?  The  Solemn  League 
and  Covenant,  sworn  to  by  the  Parliaments  of  England 


FOX'S  MESSAGE 


39 


and  Scotland,  was  in  the  eyes  of  the  devout  Presbyterian 
the  pledge  of  all  the  future  happiness  of  both  countries. 
And  so  on  throughout  the  political  life  of  England, 
oaths  were  exacted  and  relied  upon  to  a  far  greater 
degree  than  at  the  present  day.  In  such  a  state  of 
things  George  Fox  and  his  friends,  steadily  and  obstin- 
ately refusing  to  take  any  oath  at  all,  were  bound  to 
come  into  collision  with  the  authorities.  The  fanatical 
Protestant  suspected  them  of  being  crypto-Catholics, 
the  Parliament-man  believed  that  they  were  plotting  to 
bring  in  King  Charles,  the  justices  of  Charles  II.,  when 
he  was  at  length  seated  on  the  throne,  suspected  them 
of  being  old  Cromwellians ;  anything  and  everything 
might  be  believed  of  men  who  would  on  no  account 
attest  their  loyalty  by  an  oath. 

4.  Hat-worship,  as  the  new  teachers  called  it,  was 
an  even  more  fatal  rock  of  offence  than  judicial 
swearing,  especially  as  along  with  it  went  the  use  of 
the  singular  number  in  addressing  a  single  person. 

"  Moreover,"  says  Fox,  "  when  the  Lord  sent  me  forth 
into  the  world,  He  forbade  me  to  put  off  my  hat  to  any, 
high  or  low ;  and  I  was  required  to  say  Thee  and  Thou 
to  all  men  and  women,  without  any  respect  to  rich  or 
poor,  great  or  small.  And  as  I  travelled  up  and  down, 
I  was  not  to  bid  people  Good-morrow,  or  Good-evening, 
neither  might  I  bow  or  scrape  with  my  leg  to  any  one, 
and  this  made  the  sects  and  professions  to  rage.  .  .  . 
Oh !  the  rage  that  then  was  in  the  priests,  magistrates, 
professors,  and  people  of  all  sorts;  but  especially  in 
priests  and  professors ! — for  though  Thou  to  a  single 
person  was  according  to  their  own  learning,  their  acci- 
dence and  grammar  rules,  and  according  to  the  Bible, 
yet  they  could  not  bear  to  hear  it ;  and  as  to  the  hat- 


40 


GEORGE  FOX 


honour,  because  I  could  not  put  off  my  hat  to  them,  it 
set  them  all  in  a  rage. 

"  Oh !  the  rage  and  scorn,  the  heat  and  fury  that  arose  ! 
Oh !  the  blows,  punchings,  beatings,  and  imprisonments 
that  we  underwent  for  not  putting  off  our  hats  to  men  ! 
For  that  soon  tried  all  men's  patience  and  sobriety  what 
it  was.  Some  had  their  hats  violently  plucked  off  and 
thrown  away,  so  that  they  quite  lost  them.  The  bad 
language  and  evil  usage  we  received  on  this  account 
are  hard  to  be  expressed,  besides  the  danger  we  were 
sometimes  in  of  losing  our  lives  for  this  matter,  and 
that  by  the  great  professors  of  Christianity,  who  thereby 
discovered  that  they  were  not  true  believers." 

Fox's  own  reason  for  objecting  to  this  "  hat-honour  " 
is  that  "  it  was  an  honour  below,  which  the  Lord  would 
lay  in  the  dust  and  stain — an  honour  which  proud  men 
looked  for  who  sought  not  the  honour  which  came 
from  God  only ;  an  honour  invented  by  men  in  the  fall, 
and  in  the  alienation  from  God,  who  were  offended  if 
it  were  not  given  them,  and  yet  they  would  be  looked 
upon  as  saints,  Church  members,  and  great  Christians." 
The  reason  generally  alleged  by  the  later  Friends,  that  the 
removal  of  the  covering  of  the  head  is  a  sign  of  reverence 
to  God,  which  ought  not  to  be  rendered  to  any  of  His 
creatures,  seems  to  be  an  afterthought ;  at  least  I  do 
not  find  it  brought  forward  in  Fox's  Journal. 

The  whole  matter  certainly  now  seems  to  belong  to 
the  category  of  the  Infinitely  Little  ;  but,  as  we  well 
know,  it  is  even  yet  a  point  of  honour  with  all  judges 
and  magistrates  that  no  one  shall  remain  covered  in 
their  presence.  In  pictures  of  the  trial  of  King  Charles 
I.,  both  the  royal  prisoner  and  his  judges  are  seen 
asserting  their  dignity  by  wearing  their  hats,  and  the 


FOX'S  MESSAGE 


11 


clerks  of  the  court  are  the  only  persons  who  are  happily 
free  from  the  ugly  incumbrance.  Thus,  while  Fox's 
scruple  was  without  doubt  a  genuine  one,  and  was 
partly  caused  by  the  ceremonious  bowings  and  scrapings 
which  were  the  fashion  of  his  day,  there  was  in  this 
scruple  also  a  fruitful  source  of  dispute  with  the  magis- 
trates before  whom  he  was  brought,  some  of  whom 
under  the  Commonwealth  were  probably  men  lately 
raised  to  the  bench,  and  on  that  account  all  the  more 
tenacious  of  their  "  brief  authority." 

5.  Lastly,  in  this  confessedly  incomplete  catalogue 
of  the  characteristic  points  in  George  Fox's  teaching 
must  come  his  great  testimony  against  the  lawfulness  of 
war  for  Christian  men.  In  this  position  he  was  equally 
at  variance  with  the  37th  Article  of  Religion  agreed 
upon  in  the  Convocation  of  the  Clergy  of  the  Church  of 
England,1  and  with  the  beliefs  of  that  wonderful  "  New 
Model "  Puritan  army,  who,  with  the  high  praises  of 
God  in  their  mouths,  and  with  a  two-edged  sword  in 
their  hands,  had  hewn  down  a  monarchy  that  had 
stood  for  eight  centuries. 

The  Quaker  "  testimony  against  all  war "  has  since 
Fox's  time  been  buttressed  by  all  manner  of  arguments, 
social,  political,  economical,  to  which  he  and  most  of 
his  immediate  disciples  were  strangers.  It  will  be  well, 
therefore,  to  quote  a  few  sentences  from  his  Journal,  to 
show  how  it  shaped  itself  in  the  mind  of  its  first  apostle. 

"  Now  the  time  of  my  commitment  to  the  House  of 
Correction  [in  1650]  being  very  near  out,  and  there 
being  many  new  soldiers  raised,  the  commissioners  would 
have  made  me  captain  over  them ;  and  the  soldiers 

1  "  It  is  lawful  for  Christian  men,  at  the  commandment  of  the 
magistrate,  to  wear  weapons,  and  to  serve  in  the  wars." 


42 


GEORGE  FOX 


cried,  they  would  have  none  but  me.  So  the  keeper  of 
the  House  of  Correction  was  commanded  to  bring  me 
before  the  commissioners  and  soldiers  in  the  market- 
place ;  and  there  they  offered  that  preferment,  as  they 
called  it,  asking  me  if  I  would  not  take  up  arms  for  the 
Commonwealth  against  Charles  Stuart  ?  I  told  them,  I 
knew  from  whence  all  wars  did  arise,  even  from  the 
lust,  according  to  James's  doctrine ;  and  that  I  lived  in 
the  virtue  of  that  life  and  power  that  took  away  the 
occasion  of  all  wars.  But  they  courted  me  to  accept  of 
their  offer,  and  thought  I  did  but  compliment  them. 
But  I  told  them  I  was  come  into  the  covenant  of  peace, 
which  was  before  wars  and  strifes  were.  They  said 
they  offered  it  in  love  and  kindness  to  me  because  of 
my  virtue  ;  and  such-like  flattering  words  they  used. 
But  I  told  them,  if  that  was  their  love  and  kindness,  I 
trampled  it  under  my  feet.  Then  their  rage  got  up, 
and  they  said,  'Take  him  away,  gaoler,  and  put  him 
into  the  dungeon  amongst  the  rogues  and  felons.'  So  I 
was  had  away,  and  put  into  a  lousy,  stinking  place, 
without  any  bed,  amongst  thirty  felons,  where  I  was 
kept  almost  half  a  year,  unless  it  were  at  times;  for 
they  would  sometimes  let  me  walk  in  the  garden, 

having  a  belief  that  I  would  not  go  away  

"  Now  the  time  of  Worcester  fight  coming  on  [3rd 
September,  1651],  Justice  Bennet  sent  the  constables  to 
press  me  for  a  soldier,  seeing  I  would  not  voluntarily 
accept  of  a  command.  I  told  them  I  was  brought  off 
from  outward  wars.    They  came  down  again  to  give  me 

press-money,  but  I  would  accept  none   After  a 

while  the  constables  brought  me  before  the  commis- 
sioners, who  said  I  should  go  for  a  soldier,  but  I  told 
them  I  was  dead  to  it.    They  said  I  was  alive.     I  told 


FOX'S  MESSAGE 


43 


them,  where  envy  and  hatred  are  there  is  confusion." 
The  end  of  the  matter  was  that  he  was  put  in  closer 
confinement  (he  was  already  in  prison  at  Derby  while 
these  discussions  were  going  on),  and  from  his  dungeon 
wrote  a  letter  to  Colonel  Barton  (who  was  also  a  preacher), 
and  the  rest  that  were  concerned  in  his  commitment, 
reminding  them  of  the  words  of  Christ,  "  Love  your 
enemies,  and  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray 
for  them  that  despitefully  use  you  and  persecute  you." 

Again,  three  years  later,  when  Fox  had  been  arrested 
and  carried  up  to  London  by  order  of  Colonel  Hacker  (the 
regicide),  he  was  offered  his  liberty  on  the  condition  (often 
demanded  from  disturbers  of  the  public  peace)  that  he 
would  promise  not  to  bear  arms  against  the  Government. 

"  After  Captain  Drury  had  lodged  me  at  the  Mer- 
maid 1  he  left  me  there,  and  went  to  give  the  Protector 
an  account  of  me.  When  he  came  to  me  again,  he  told 
me  the  Protector  required  that  I  should  promise  not  to 
take  up  a  carnal  sword  or  weapon  against  him  or  the 
Government,  as  it  then  was,  and  I  should  write  it  in 
what  words  I  saw  good,  and  set  my  hand  to  it.  I  said 
little  in  reply  to  Captain  Drury.  But  the  next  morning 
I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  write  a  paper  to  the 
Protector,  Oliver  Cromwell,  wherein  I  did  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Lord  God  declare  that  I  denied  [i.  e.  con- 
demned] the  wearing  or  drawing  of  a  carnal  sword  or 
any  other  outward  weapon  against  him  or  any  man ; 
and  that  I  was  set  of  God  to  stand  a  witness  against  all 
violence,  and  against  the  works  of  darkness ;  and  to 
turn  people  from  darkness  to  light,  and  to  bring  them 
from  the  causes  of  war  and  of  fighting  to  the  peaceable 
gospel,  and  from  being  evil-doers,  which  the  magistrates' 
1  Over  against  the  Mews  at  Charing  Cross. 


44 


GEORGE  FOX 


swords  should  be  a  terror  to.  When  I  had  written 
what  the  Lord  had  given  me  to  write,  I  set  my  name  to 
it,  and  gave  it  to  Captain  Drury  to  hand  to  Oliver 
Cromwell,  which  he  did." 

Six  years  later  (1659),  when  the  premature  Royalist 
insurrection  of  Sir  George  Booth  had  alarmed  the  nation 
(now  no  longer  ruled  by  the  mighty  Protector),  "  some 
foolish  and  rash  spirits,"  says  Fox,  "  that  came  some- 
times among  us,  were  ready  to  take  up  arms ;  but  I  was 
moved  of  the  Lord  to  warn  and  forbid  them,  and  they 
were  quiet.  In  the  time  of  the  Committee  of  Safety 
(so  called)  we  were  invited  by  them  to  take  up  arms, 
and  great  places  and  commands  were  offered  some  of 
us,  but  we  denied  [refused]  them  all,  and  declared 
against  it  both  by  word  and  writing,  testifying  that 
our  weapons  and  armour  were  not  carnal  but  spiritual." 
In  order  more  effectually  to  warn  his  followers,  Fox  put 
forth  a  paper,  exhorting  them  to  take  heed  to  "  keep  out 
of  the  powers  of  the  earth,  that  run  into  wars  and 
fightings,  which  make  not  for  peace,  but  destroy  it; 
such  will  not  have  the  kingdom.  .  .  .  Let  Friends  keep 
out  of  other  men's  matters,  and  keep  in  that  which 
answers  the  witness  in  them  all,  out  of  the  man's  part, 
where  they  must  expect  wars  and  dishonour." 

Thus  Fox's  "  testimony  against  war,"  though  grounded 
on  Scripture,  especially  on  the  well-known  passage  in 
Christ's  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  was  related,  like  all  the 
other  articles  of  his  teaching,  to  his  one  central  doctrine 
of  the  Inward  Light.  Wars  and  tumults,  bloodshed, 
and  the  hot  spirit  of  the  duellist  and  the  swashbuckler, 
belonged  to  "the  unstaid  state,"  "the  carnal  part,"  "the 
bustlings  of  the  world,"  and  prevented  men  from  listen- 
ing to  "  that  which  answers  the  witness  in  them  all." 


CHAPTER  V 


MISSIONARY  JOURNEYS:   MIDLAND  COUNTIES  AND 
YORKSHIRE 

The  first  four  years  of  Fox's  missionary  life  (1648 — 
1651)  were  spent  chiefly  in  the  midland  counties  and 
Yorkshire.  For  some  time  he  seems  to  have  especially 
frequented  the  county  of  Nottingham,  and  he  was 
described  as  "  late  of  Mansfield  in  the  County  of  Not- 
tingham," in  the  mittimus  under  which  he  was  com- 
mitted to  prison  on  October  30,  1650.  It  was  during 
these  early  years  of  his  preaching  that  some  of  his  most 
characteristic  and  best-remembered  spiritual  adventures 
took  place. 

1.  One  of  these  showed  a  remarkable  sympathy  with 
the  doubts  and  perplexities  of  a  much  later  age. 

"  After  this  I  returned  into  Nottinghamshire  again, 
and  went  into  the  Vale  of  Beavor.  As  I  went  I 
preached  repentance  to  the  people ;  and  there  were 
many  convinced  in  the  Vale  of  Beavor,  in  many  towns ; 
for  I  stayed  some  weeks  amongst  them.  One  morning, 
as  I  was  sitting  by  the  fire,  a  great  cloud  came  over  me, 
and  a  temptation  beset  me ;  but  I  sat  still.  And  it  was 
said,  '  All  things  come  by  nature ; '  and  the  elements 
and  the  stars  came  over  me,  so  that  I  was  in  a  manner 
quite  clouded  with  it.  But  as  I  sat  still  and  said 
nothing,  the  people  of  the  house  perceived  nothing. 

45 


46 


GEORGE  FOX 


And  as  I  sat  still  under  it,  and  let  it  alone,  a  living 
hope  arose  in  me,  and  a  true  voice  which  said,  '  There 
is  a  living  God,  who  made  all  things.'  And  immedi- 
ately the  cloud  and  temptation  vanished  away,  and  life 
rose  over  it  all ;  my  heart  was  glad,  and  I  praised  the 
living  God.  After  some  time,  I  met  with  some  people 
who  had  a  notion  that  there  was  no  God,  but  that  all 
things  came  by  nature.  I  had  a  great  dispute  with 
them,  and  overturned  them,  and  made  some  of  them 
confess  that  there  is  a  living  God.  Then  I  saw  that  it 
was  good  that  I  had  gone  through  that  exercise." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  this  passage  Fox 
unconsciously  anticipates  the  phraseology  of  one  of  our 
latest  writers  on  the  problems  of  a  theistic  faith.  The 
temptation  with  which  the  Leicestershire  shepherd  was 
wrestling,  was  a  temptation  to  what  is  generally  spoken 
of  as  Materialism.  Mr.  Balfour,  in  his  Foundations  of 
Bcligious  Belief,  prefers  to  use  the  word  "  Naturalism," 
and  that  is  just  the  phrase  which  expresses  the  proposi- 
tion that  suggested  itself  to  the  mind  of  George  Fox, 
and  over  which  his  spirit  triumphed — "  All  things  come 
by  nature." 

This  incident  has  suggested  to  the  great  Quaker  poet 
of  America  one  of  his  best  and  deepest  utterances — 

"  Still,  as  of  old  in  Beavor's  vale, 

0  man  of  God  !  our  hope  and  faith 
The  elements  and  stars  assail, 

And  the  awed  spirit  holds  its  breath, 
Blown  over  by  a  wind  of  death. 

2fz  ^fz  ^fc  2fc  ifc 

Strange  god  of  Force,  with  fear,  not  love 
Its  trembling  worshippers !  can  prayers 

Beach  the  shut  ear  of  Fate,  or  move 
Unpitying  Energy  to  spare  ? 
What  doth  the  cosmic  vastness  care? 


MISSIONARY  JOURNEYS  :  MIDLAND  COUNTIES  47 


I  pray  fur  faith.    I  long  to  trust, 
I  listen  with  my  heart,  and  hear 

A  voice  without  a  sound.    Be  just, 
Be  true,  be  merciful ;  revere 
The  Word  within  thee.    God  is  near. 
***** 

0  joy  supreme  !  I  know  the  Voice, 
Like  none  beside  in  earth  or  sea, 

Yea,  more.    0  soul  of  mine,  rejoice 
By  all  that  He  requires  of  me : 
I  know  what  God  Himself  must  be." 

Thus  "  the  Word  within  thee  "  is  to  Whittier,  as  to  the 
founder  of  the  society  to  which  he  belonged,  the  power- 
ful voice  which  drowns  that  other  dread  suggestion  of 
the  Sadducean  intellect,  "  All  things  come  by  nature." 
It  is  immediately  after  his  record  of  this  battle  with 
a  spiritual  foe,  that  Fox  describes  some  of  his  strivings 
after  a  much  humbler  aim,  the  promotion  of  social  peace 
and  justice  between  man  and  man. 

"At  a  certain  time  when  I  was  at  Mansfield  there 
was  a  sitting  of  the  justices  about  hiring  of  servants, 
and  it  was  upon  me  from  the  Lord  to  go  and  speak  to 
the  justices,  that  they  should  not  oppress  the  servants 
in  their  wages.  So  I  walked  towards  the  inn  where 
they  sat,  but  finding  a  company  of  fiddlers  there  I  did 
not  go  in,  but  thought  to  come  in  the  morning,  when  I 
might  have  a  more  serious  opportunity  to  discourse 
with  them,  not  thinking  that  a  seasonable  time.  But 
when  I  came  again  in  the  morning  they  were  gone, 
and  I  was  struck  even  blind  that  I  could  not  see.  I 
inquired  of  the  innkeeper  where  the  justices  were  to 
sit  that  day,  and  he  told  me  at  a  town  eight  miles  off. 
My  sight  began  to  come  to  me  again,  and  I  went  and 
ran  thitherward  as  fast  as  I  could.  When  I  was  come 
to  the  house  where  they  were,  and  many  servants  with 


48 


GEORGE  FOX 


them,  I  exhorted  the  justices  not  to  oppress  the  servants 
in  their  wages,  but  to  do  that  which  was  right  and  just 
to  thern,  and  I  exhorted  the  servants  to  do  their  duties, 
and  serve  honestly,  etc.  They  all  received  my  exhorta- 
tion kindly,  for  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  therein." 

2.  It  was  apparently  in  the  year  1649  that  Fox  under- 
went his  first  imprisonment,  the  place  of  his  confine- 
ment being  Nottingham,  and  the  cause  a  protest  against 
what  seemed  to  him  an  undue  exaltation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures.   His  own  account  of  the  matter  is  as  follows  : — 

"  Now  as  I  went  towards  Nottingham  on  a  first-day 
in  the  morning,  with  Friends  to  a  meeting  there,  when 
I  came  on  the  top  of  a  hill  in  sight  of  the  town  I  espied 
the  great  steeple-house,  and  the  Lord  said  unto  me, 
'  Thou  must  go  cry  against  yonder  great  idol,  and 
against  the  worshippers  therein.'  So  I  said  nothing 
of  this  to  the  Friends  that  were  with  me,  but  went  on 
with  them  to  the  meeting,  where  the  'mighty  power 
of  the  Lord  was  amongst  us;  in  which  I  left  Friends 
sitting  in  the  meeting,  and  I  went  away  to  the  steeple- 
house.  When  I  came  there  all  the  people  looked  like 
fallow  ground,  and  the  priest  (like  a  great  lump  of 
earth)  stood  in  his  pulpit  above.  He  took  for  his  text 
these  words  of  Peter,  1  We  have  also  a  more  sure  word 
of  prophecy,  whereunto  ye  do  well  that  ye  take  heed, 
as  unto  a  light  that  shineth  in  a  dark  place,  until  the 
day  dawn,  and  the  daystar  arise  in  your  hearts.'  And 
he  told  the  people  that  this  was  the  Scriptures,  by 
which  they  were  to  try  all  doctrines,  religions,  and 
opinions.  Now  the  Lord's  power  was  so  mighty  upon 
me,  and  so  strong  in  me,  that  I  could  not  hold,  but  was 
made  to  cry  out  and  say,  '  Oh  no,  it  is  not  the  Scrip- 
tures;' and  I  told  them  what  it  was,  namely,  the  Holy 


MISSIONARY  JOURNEYS:  MIDLAND  COUNTIES  49 


Spirit  by  which  the  holy  men  of  God  gave  forth  the 
Scriptures,  whereby  opinions,  religions,  and  judgments 
were  to  be  tried,  for  it  led  into  all  truth,  and  so  gave 
the  knowledge  of  all  truth.  The  Jews  had  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  yet  resisted  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  rejected 
Christ,  the  bright  morning-star.  They  persecuted 
Christ  and  His  apostles,  and  took  upon  them  to  try 
their  doctrines  by  the  Scriptures,  but  erred  in  judgment, 
and  did  not  try  them  aright,  because  they  tried  without 
the  Holy  Ghost.  As  I  spake  thus  amongst  them,  the 
officers  came  and  took  me  away,  and  put  me  into  a 
nasty,  stinking  prison,  the  smell  whereof  got  so  into  my 
nose  and  throat  that  it  very  much  annoyed  me. 

"  But  that  day  the  Lord's  power  sounded  so  in  their 
ears,  that  they  were  amazed  at  the  voice,  and  could  not 
get  it  out  of  their  ears  for  some  time  after,  they  were  so 
reached  by  the  Lord's  power  in  the  steeple-house.  At 
night  they  took  me  before  the  mayor,  aldermen,  and 
sheriffs  of  the  town,  and  when  I  was  brought  before 
them,  the  mayor  was  in  a  peevish,  fretful  temper,  but 
the  Lord's  power  allayed  him.  They  examined  me  at 
large,  and  I  told  them  how  the  Lord  had  moved  me  to 
come.  After  some  discourse  between  them  and  me, 
they  sent  me  back  to  prison  again,  but  some  time  after 
the  head  sheriff,  whose  name  was  John  Reckless,  sent 
for  me  to  his  house.  When  I  came  in  his  wife  met  me 
in  the  hall  and  said,  1  Salvation  is  come  to  our  house.' 
She  took  me  by  the  hand,  and  was  much  wrought  upon 
by  the  power  of  the  Lord  God ;  and  her  husband,  and 
children,  and  servants  were  much  changed,  for  the 
power  of  the  Lord  wrought  upon  them.  I  lodged  at 
the  sheriff's,  and  great  meetings  we  had  in  his  house. 
Some  persons  of  considerable  condition  in  the  world 

E 


50 


GEORGE  FOX 


came  to  them,  and  the  Lord's  power  appeared  eminently 
amongst  them.  This  sheriff  sent  for  the  other  sheriff, 
and  for  a  woman  they  had  had  dealings  with  in  the 
way  of  trade ;  and  he  told  her  before  the  other  sheriff 
that  they  had  wronged  her  in  their  dealings  with  her 
(for  the  other  sheriff  and  he  were  partners),  and  that 
they  ought  to  make  her  restitution.  This  he  spoke 
cheerfully,  but  the  other  sheriff  denied  it,  and  the 
woman  said  that  she  knew  nothing  of  it.  But  the 
friendly  sheriff  said  it  was  so,  and  that  the  other  knew 
it  well  enough ;  and  having  discovered  the  matter,  and 
acknowledged  the  wrong  done  by  them,  he  made  resti- 
tution to  the  woman,  and  exhorted  the  other  sheriff  to 
do  the  like.  The  Lord's  power  was  with  this  friendly 
sheriff,  and  wrought  a  mighty  change  in  him,  and  great 
openings  he  had.  The  next  market  day,  as  he  was 
walking  with  me  in  the  chamber  in  his  slippers,  he 
said,  '  I  must  go  into  the  market,  and  preach  repentance 
to  the  people,'  and  accordingly  he  went  into  the  market, 
and  into  several  streets,  and  preached  repentance  to  the 
people.  Several  others  also  in  the  town  were  moved  to 
speak  to  the  mayor  and  magistrates,  and  to  the  people, 
exhorting  them  to  repent.  Hereupon  the  magistrates 
grew  very  angry,  and  sent  for  me  from  the  sheriff's 
house,  and  committed  me  to  the  common  prison.  When 
the  assize  came  on,  there  was  one  moved  to  come  and 
offer  up  himself  for  me,  body  for  body;  yea,  life  also; 
but  when  I  should  have  been  brought  before  the  judge, 
the  sheriff's  man  being  somewhat  long  in  fetching  me 
to  the  sessions-house,  the  judge  was  risen  before  I 
came.  At  which  I  understood  the  judge  was  somewhat 
offended,  and  said  'he  would  have  admonished  the 
youth  if  he  had  been  brought  before  him,'  for  I  was 


MISSIONARY  JOURNEYS:  MIDLAND  COUNTIES  51 


then  imprisoned  by  the  name  of  a  youth.  So  I  was 
returned  to  prison  again,  and  put  into  the  common  gaol. 
The  Lord's  power  was  great  among  Friends,  but  the 
people  began  to  be  very  rude,  wherefore  the  governor 
of  the  castle  sent  down  soldiers  and  dispersed  them, 
and  after  that  they  were  quiet.  But  both  priests  and 
people  were  astonished  at  the  wonderful  power  that 
broke  forth,  and  several  of  the  priests  were  made  tender, 
and  some  did  confess  to  the  power  of  the  Lord." 

It  may  be  remarked,  as  to  the  incident  which  led  to 
this  imprisonment,  that  Fox  does  not  appear  to  have 
repeated  the  offence  of  actually  interrupting  a  preacher 
in  his  sermon.  It  would  probably  be  generally  admitted 
now,  even  by  those  who  have  most  sympathy  with  Fox's 
teachings,  that  the  preacher  was  right  in  interpreting 
the  passage  before  him  (2  Peter  i.  19)  of  the  Scriptures 
of  the  Old  Testament. 

3.  How  long  the  imprisonment  at  Nottingham  lasted 
we  are  not  informed.  The  next  imprisonment,  at  Derby, 
lasted  for  almost  a  year,  from  October  30,  1650,  to  the 
beginning  of  winter  1651.  Again  it  was  his  utterances 
in  the  parish  church  which  brought  him  into  trouble. 
He  was  walking  in  his  chamber,  and  heard  a  bell  ring, 
which  "  struck  at  my  life  at  the  hearing  of  it ;  so  I  asked 
the  woman  of  the  house  what  the  bell  rang  for  ?  She 
said  there  was  to  be  a  great  lecture  there  that  day,  and 
many  of  the  officers  of  the  army,  and  priests,  and 
preachers  were  to  be  there,  and  a  colonel  that  was  a 
preacher."  This  colonel,  as  we  learn  from  a  later 
passage,1  was  Colonel  Barton,  who  sat  three  years  later 
as  a  member  of  the  Second  Council  of  the  "  Barebones  " 
Parliament.2  Altogether  the  assembly  in  the  parish 
1  I.  73.  2  See  Masson'a  Life  of  Milton,  iv.  525. 


5-2 


GEORGE  FOX 


church  of  Derby  that  day  was  as  little  like  an  ordinary 
Church  of  England  congregation  of  the  times  either  of 
Elizabeth  or  Victoria  as  can  well  be  imagined,  and  could 
Archbishop  Laud  have  been  called  from  his  grave  in 
Allhallows,  Barking,  to  witness  that  day's  proceedings, 
he  would  have  had  as  little  sympathy  with  the  Puritan 
lecturer  or  the  preaching  colonel  as  with  the  young  man 
in  the  leather  breeches,  whose  strange,  excited  discourse 
broke  in  upon  their  long-drawn  expositions. 

"  Then  was  I  moved  of  the  Lord,"  he  says,  "  to  go  up 
to  them ;  and  when  they  had  done  I  spoke  to  them 
what  the  Lord  commanded  me,  and  they  were  pretty 
quiet.  But  there  came  an  officer,  and  took  me  by  the 
hand,  and  said  I  must  go  before  the  magistrates,  and 
the  other  two  that  were  with  me.  It  was  about  the 
first  hour  after  noon  that  we  came  before  them.  They 
asked  me  why  we  came  thither ;  I  said,  '  God  moved  us 
to  do  so ; '  and  I  told  them,  '  God  dwells  not  in  temples 
made  with  hands.'  I  told  them  also,  all  their  preaching, 
baptism,  and  sacrifices  would  never  sanctify  them ;  and 
bid  them  look  unto  Christ  in  them,  and  not  unto  men ; 
for  it  is  Christ  that  sanctifies.  Then  they  ran  into 
many  words;  but  I  told  them  they  were  not  to  dispute 
of  God  and  Christ,  but  to  obey  Him.  The  power  of 
God  thundered  amongst  them,  and  they  did  fly  like 
chaff  before  it.  They  put  me  in  and  out  of  the  room 
often,  hurrying  me  backward  and  forward;  for  they 
were  from  the  first  hour  till  the  ninth  at  night  in 
examining  me.  Sometimes  they  would  tell  me,  in  a 
deriding  manner,  that  I  was  taken  up  in  raptures.  At 
last  they  asked  me  whether  I  was  sanctified  ?  I 
answered  :  '  Yes  ;  for  I  was  in  the  paradise  of  God.'  Then 
they  asked  me  if  I  had  no  sin  ?    I  answered,  '  Christ, 


MISSIONARY  JOURNEYS:  MIDLAND  COUNTIES  53 


my  Saviour,  has  taken  away  my  sin,  and  in  Him  there 
is  no  sin.'  They  asked,  how  we  knew  that  Christ  did 
abide  in  us  ?  I  said, '  By  His  Spirit  that  He  has  given  us.' 
They  temptingly  asked  if  any  of  us  were  Christ  ?  I 
answered, '  Nay,  we  were  nothing  :  Christ  was  all'  They 
said, '  If  a  man  steal,  is  it  no  sin  ? '  I  answered, '  All  un- 
righteousness is  sin.'  So  when  they  had  wearied 
themselves  in  examining  me,  they  committed  me  and 
one  other  man  to  the  House  of  Correction  in  Derby  for 
six  months  as  blasphemers." 

This  committal  took  place  no  doubt  under  the  Blas- 
phemy Law  passed  by  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament 
in  May  1648.  According  to  the  provisions  of  that 
extraordinary  Statute,  Fox  might  have  been  con- 
demned to  suffer  the  pains  of  death,  as  in  a  case  of 
felony  without  benefit  of  clergy,  for  maintaining  e.g. 
that  the  Song  of  Solomon  is  not  the  Word  of  God.  As 
he  was  only  committed  to  prison,  not  put  to  death,  his 
alleged  blasphemy  must  have  been  one  of  the  minor 
transgressions  against  Presbyterian  orthodoxy  enumer- 
ated in  the  second  part  of  the  Statute,  such  as  the 
assertion  "that  the  baptizing  of  infants  is  unlawful," 
"  that  the  observation  of  the  Lord'  Day  is  not  obligatory," 
or  "  that  the  Church  government  by  Presbytery  is  anti- 
Christian  and  unlawful."  Fox  himself  gives  us  no  hint 
in  what  his  alleged  blasphemy  consisted,  but  in  a 
discussion  between  a  dogmatic  preaching  colonel,  and 
an  eager,  mystical,  and  imperfectly  educated  shepherd- 
prophet,  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  propositions 
might  be  affirmed  or  denied  by  the  latter  which  would 
bring  him  within  the  range  of  that  wide-reaching 
Statute. 

At  this  point  we  must  note  that  Gervase  Bennet,  J.P., 


54 


GEORGE  FOX 


the  magistrate  who,  along  with  Colonel  Barton,  signed 
the  mittimus  for  his  committal  to  the  House  of  Correc- 
tion, was  also  the  inventor  of  a  word,  which  in  the 
course  of  two  centuries  and  a  half  has  had  no  small 
currency  among  the  English-speaking  peoples.  The 
keeper  of  the  prison,  in  a  dream  one  night,  saw  the  Day 
of  Judgment,  "  and  I  saw  George  there,  and  I  was 
afraid  of  him,  because  I  had  done  him  so  much  wrong, 
and  spoken  so  much  against  him  to  the  ministers  and 
professors,  and  to  the  justices,  and  in  taverns  and  ale- 
houses." In  his  distress  of  mind  he  came,  like  the 
gaoler  of  Philippi,  to  implore  his  prisoner's  pardon,  and 
next  morning  he  went  and  told  the  justices  (says  the 
Journal)  "  that  he  and  his  house  had  been  plagued  for 
my  sake,  and  one  of  the  justices  replied  (as  he  reported 
to  me)  that  the  plagues  were  on  them  too  for  keeping 
me.  This  was  justice  Bennet  of  Derby,  who  was  the 
first  that  called  us  QUAKERS,  because  I  bid  them 
tremble  at  the  word  of  the  Lord.  This  was  in  the 
year  1650." 

The  name  by  which  the  little  newly-formed  Church 
at  first  seems  to  have  called  itself  was  "  Children  of  the 
Light."  Afterwards  they  chose  the  name  which  they 
still  use,  "The  Society  of  Friends,"  to  which  was 
generally  added,  "  in  scorn  called  Quakers." 

George  Fox's  imprisonment  at  Derby  lasted,  as  I 
have  said,  for  about  a  year.  It  was  strangely  unlike 
anything  that  takes  place  in  the  monotonous  English 
prisons  of  to-day.  "  Professors  "  came  to  discourse  with 
the  prisoner,  who,  in  words  already  quoted,1  upheld  the 
high  standard  of  Christian  perfection  against  what  he 
called  their  "  pleading  for  sin." 

1  See  p.  36. 


MISSIONARY  JOURNEYS :  MIDLAND  COUNTIES  55 


The  magistrates  gave  leave  that  he  should  have 
liberty  to  walk  a  mile.  He  asked  to  be  shown  the 
extent  of  his  one  mile  radius,  and  scrupulously  adhered 
to  its  limits,  often  taking  opportunity  in  his  perambula- 
tions to  preach  in  the  market  and  the  streets,  warning 
the  people  to  repent  of  their  wickedness,  but  always 
returning  conscientiously  to  his  prison,  to  the  no  small 
disappointment  of  his  unwilling  persecutors,  who,  as 
the  gaoler  afterwards  confessed,  had  granted  this  per- 
mission in  the  hope  that  he  would  avail  himself  of  it 
to  escape,  and  so  ease  them  of  their  plague.  "  But  I 
told  him  I  was  not  of  that  spirit." 

Once  while  he  was  in  this  prison  he  was  visited  by  a 
trooper,  who  while  sitting  in  church  had  heard  God's 
voice  saying  to  him,  "Dost  thou  not  know  that  My 
servant  is  in  prison  ?  Go  to  him  for  direction."  Fox's 
discourse  to  this  man  relieved  the  burden  on  his  soul. 
"  He  began  to  have  a  good  understanding  in  the  Lord's 
truth,  and  to  be  sensible  of  God's  mercies."  Soon  he 
"  began  to  speak  boldly  in  his  quarters  amongst  the 
soldiers  and  to  others  concerning  truth  (for  the  Scriptures 
were  very  much  opened  to  him),  insomuch  that  he 
said  '  his  colonel  was  as  blind  as  Nebuchadnezzar,  to 
cast  the  servant  of  the  Lord  into  prison.'  Upon  this 
his  colonel  had  a  spite  against  him,  and  at  Worcester 
fight,  the  year  after,  when  the  two  armies  were  lying 
near  one  another,  two  came  out  from  the  King's  army 
and  challenged  any  two  of  the  Parliament  army  to  fight 
with  them ;  his  colonel  made  choice  of  him  and  another 
to  answer  the  challenge.  And  when  in  the  encounter 
his  companion  was  slain,  he  drove  both  his  enemies 
within  musket-shot  of  the  town  without  firing  a  pistol 
at  them.    This,  when  he  returned,  he  told  me  with  his 


56 


GEORGE  FOX 


own  mouth.  But  when  the  fight  was  over,  he  saw  the 
deceit  and  hypocrisy  of  the  officers ;  and  being  sensible 
how  wonderfully  the  Lord  had  preserved  him,  and 
seeing  also  to  the  end  of  fighting,  he  laid  down  his 
arms." 

It  was  at  "Worcester  fight"  (September  3,1651) 
that  this  young  convert  fought  his  duel,  and  the  same 
crisis  in  the  fortunes  of  the  Commonwealth  suggested 
to  the  Derby  magistrates  (as  we  have  already  seen)  the 
notable  device  of  getting  rid  of  their  prisoner  by 
sending  him  to  fight  against  Charles  Stuart.  This  his 
"  testimony  against  all  fighting,"  as  being  out  of  the 
Divine  life,  forbade  him  to  do  either  as  officer  or  private, 
and  his  refusal  seems  to  have  doubled  the  length  and 
increased  the  severity  of  his  confinement. 

At  length  this  strange  struggle  between  the  criminal 
and  his  judges  came  to  an  end.  The  man  whom  they 
had  at  first  called  a  deceiver,  a  seducer,  and  a  blasphemer, 
they  confessed  to  be  an  honest,  virtuous  man,  and  "  at 
length  they  were  made  to  turn  me  out  of  jail  about 
the  beginning  of  winter  in  the  year  1651,  after  I  had 
been  a  prisoner  in  Derby  almost  a  year,  six  months  in 
the  House  of  Correction,  and  the  rest  of  the  time  in  the 
common  jail  and  dungeon." 

4.  The  long  imprisonment  at  Derby  had  perhaps 
injured  the  mental  as  well  as  the  bodily  health  of  the 
Quaker  apostle,  for  it  was  shortly  after  his  liberation  that 
an  event  occurred  which  has  cast  more  doubt  on  the 
perfect  soundness  of  his  intellect  than  any  other  incident 
in  his  career.  This  is  his  celebrated  denunciation  of 
"  the  bloody  city  of  Lichfield,"  which  shall  be  told  in 
his  own  words. 

"As  I  was  walking  along  with  several  Friends,  I 


MISSIONARY  JOURNEYS:  MIDLAND  COUNTIES  57 


lifted  up  my  head,  and  I  saw  three  steeple-house  spires, 
and  they  struck  at  my  life.  I  asked  them  what  place 
that  was,  and  they  said  Lichfield.  Immediately  the 
word  of  the  Lord  came  to  me  that  I  must  go  thither. 
Being  come  to  the  house  we  were  going  to,  I  wished 
the  Friends  that  were  with  me  to  walk  into  the  house, 
saying  nothing  to  them  whither  I  was  to  go.  As  soon 
as  they  were  gone  I  stepped  away,  and  went  by  my 
eye  over  hedge  and  ditch,  till  I  came  within  a  mile  of 
Lichfield,  where,  in  a  great  field,  there  were  shepherds 
keeping  their  sheep.  Then  I  was  commanded  by  the 
Lord  to  pull  off  my  shoes.  I  stood  still,  for  it  was 
winter,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  was  like  a  fire  in  me. 
So  I  put  off  my  shoes,  and  left  them  with  the  shepherds, 
and  the  poor  shepherds  trembled  and  were  astonished. 
Then  I  walked  on  about  a  mile,  and  as  soon  as  I  was 
got  within  the  city,  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  me 
again,  saying,  'Cry,  Woe  unto  the  bloody  city  of 
Lichfield  ! '  So  I  went  up  and  down  the  streets  crying 
with  a  loud  voice,  '  Woe  to  the  bloody  city  of  Lichfield  ! ' 
It  being  market  day,  I  went  into  the  market-place,  and 
to  and  fro  in  the  several  parts  of  it,  and  made  stands, 
crying  as  before,  '  Woe  to  the  bloody  city  of  Lichfield  ! ' 
And  no  one  laid  hands  on  me;  but  as  I  went  thus 
crying  through  the  streets,  there  seemed  to  me  to  be 
a  channel  of  blood  running  down  the  streets,  and  the 
market-place  appeared  like  a  pool  of  blood.  When  I 
had  declared  what  was  upon  me,  and  felt  myself  clear, 
I  went  out  of  the  town  in  peace  ;  and  returning  to  the 
shepherds,  I  gave  them  some  money,  and  took  my  shoes 
of  them  again.  But  the  fire  of  the  Lord  was  so  in  my 
feet,  and  all  over  me,  that  I  did  not  matter  to  put  on 
my  shoes  any  more,  and  was  at  a  stand  whether  I 


58 


GEORGE  FOX 


should  or  not,  till  I  felt  freedom  from  the  Lord  so  to 
do ;  and  then  after  I  had  washed  my  feet  I  put  on  my 
shoes  again.  After  this  a  deep  consideration  came 
upon  me,  why  or  for  what  reason  I  should  be  sent  to 
cry  against  that  city,  and  call  it  the  bloody  city.  For 
though  the  Parliament  had  the  minster  one  while,  and 
the  King  another,  and  much  blood  had  been  shed  in 
the  town  during  the  wars  between  them,  yet  that  was 
no  more  than  had  befallen  other  places.  But  afterwards 
I  came  to  understand  that  in  the  Emperor  Diocletian's 
time,  a  thousand  Christians  were  martyred  in  Lichfield. 
So  I  was  to  go,  without  my  shoes,  through  the  channel 
of  their  blood,  and  into  the  pool  of  their  blood  in  the 
market-place,  that  I  might  raise  up  the  memorial  of 
the  blood  of  those  martyrs  which  had  been  shed  above 
a  thousand  years  before,  and  lay  cold  in  their  streets. 
So  the  sense  of  this  blood  was  upon  me,  and  I 
obeyed  the  word  of  the  Lord.  Ancient  records  testify 
how  many  of  the  Christian  Britons  suffered  there. 
Much  I  could  write  of  the  sense  I  had  of  the  blood 
of  the  martyrs  that  hath  been  shed  in  this  nation  for 
the  name  of  Christ,  both  under  the  ten  persecutions 
and  since ;  but  I  leave  it  to  the  Lord,  and  to  His  book, 
out  of  which  all  shall  be  judged,  for  His  book  is  a 
most  certain  record,  and  His  Spirit  a  true  recorder." 

We  have  in  this  passage  a  good  illustration  of  the 
way  in  which  the  utterances  of  the  fervid  prophet- 
souled  man,  who  knew  no  book  but  the  Bible,  were 
worked  over,  and,  so  to  speak,  rationalized  by  the  more 
highly-instructed  men,  such  as  Penn  and  Ellwood,  who 
afterwards  became  his  disciples.  An  age  better  versed 
in  the  principles  of  historical  criticism  perceives  that 
the  attempted  explanation  of  this  strange  adventure, 


MISSIONARY  JOURNEYS:  YORKSHIRE  59 


drawn  from  the  legendary  story  of  a  Diocletianic  per- 
secution, is  no  explanation  at  all.  It  would  be  of  more 
purpose — as  we  have  already  indicated  some  points  of 
resemblance  between  the  career  of  Fox  and  that  of 
Savonarola — to  recall  the  wonderful  prediction  which 
the  great  Dominican,  in  the  early  days  of  his  preaching, 
uttered  with  fervid  eloquence  against  the  city  of  Brescia. 
Only  in  that  case  there  was  a  real  fulfilment  of  the 
prophecy  when  Gaston  de  Foix  took  Brescia,  and  made 
rivers  of  blood  to  flow  down  her  streets.  In  the  case  of 
"  the  bloody  city  of  Lichfield,"  no  such  calamity  attested 
the  truth  of  Fox's  prophetic  mission.  A  candid  bio- 
grapher must  confess,  that  in  that  wild  and  terrible 
time,  when  the  blood  of  Englishmen  had  been  shed  by 
their  brothers  on  many  a  battle-field,  when  cities  like 
Lichfield  had  been  taken  and  retaken  by  Cavalier  and 
Roundhead,  and  when  the  final  tragedy  of  Whitehall 
had  thrown  a  spell  of  horror  not  only  over  England,  but 
over  all  Europe,  the  brain  of  Fox,  perhaps  weakened  by 
the  rigours  of  a  long  imprisonment,  perceived  wrongly 
the  spiritual  intimations  which  were  conveyed  to  it, 
and  transferred  to  the  future  that  sense  of  horror  at 
scenes  of  violence  which  really  reached  it  from  the 
past. 

In  the  year  1651  Fox's  mission,  hitherto  confined  to 
the  Midland  counties,  passed  over  into  Yorkshire.  It 
was  at  this  time,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Wakefield, 
that  he  won  over  to  his  side  a  convert  who  was  to  be 
first  a  powerful  ally,  then  an  uneasy  rival,  and  finally  a 
damaging  caricaturist  of  Quaker  teaching,  the  fanatical 
Cromwellian  soldier  James  Naylor. 

At  Cranswick,  in  the  East  Riding,  he  was  taken  by 
another  Cromwellian  soldier  to  call  on  a  magistrate 


60 


GEORGE  FOX 


whom  he  calls  Justice  Hotham,  and  who  was  probably 
a  relation  of  the  Sir  John  Hotham  whose  refusal  to 
admit  the  King's  troops  within  the  citadel  of  Hull  was 
the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War.  This  Justice  Hotham, 
who  was  "  a  tender  man,  one  that  had  some  experience 
of  God's  workings  in  his  heart,"  took  Fox  with  him 
into  his  closet,  "  where,  sitting  together,  he  told  me  he 
had  known  that  principle  [of  the  Inward  Light]  these 
ten  years,  and  was  glad  that  the  Lord  did  now  publish 
it  abroad  to  the  people.  After  a  while  there  came  a 
priest  "  (no  doubt  a  Puritan  divine)  "  to  visit  him,  with 
whom  also  I  had  some  discourse  concerning  Truth.  But 
his  mouth  was  quickly  stopped,  for  he  was  nothing  but  a 
notionist,  and  not  in  possession  of  what  he  talked  of." 

So  «Fox  moved  about  on  his  missionary  journey 
through  the  great  county  of  York.  He  preached  in 
Beverley  Minster,  apparently  with  something  more  than 
mere  endurance  on  the  part  of  the  listeners,  for  a  great 
lady  of  the  neighbourhood  informed  Justice  Hotham 
that  "there  came  an  angel  or  spirit  into  the  church  at 
Beverley,  and  spoke  the  wonderful  things  of  God,  to  the 
astonishment  of  all  that  were  there ;  and  when  it  had 
done  it  passed  away,  and  they  did  not  know  whence  it 
came  nor  whither  it  went,  but  it  astonished  all,  both 
priests,  professors,  and  magistrates  of  the  town."  1 

1  We  have  here  an  interesting  little  detail  in  the  history  of 
costume.  A  certain  Captain  Pursloe  accompanies  George  Fox  to 
church  (instead  of  Justice  Hotham,  who  is  afraid  that  if  he  goes 
with  him  he  shall  be  obliged  as  a  magistrate  to  commit  him  to 
prison).  "But  he  was  glad,"  he  said,  "when  Captain  Pursloe 
came  up  to  go  with  me,  yet  neither  of  them  was  dressed,  nor  had 
his  band  about  his  neck.  It  was  a  strange  thing  then  to  see  a 
man  come  into  a  steeple-house  [church]  without  a  band,  yet  Captain 
Pursloe  went  in  with  me  without  his  band ;  the  Lord's  power 
and  truth  had  so  affected  him  that  he  minded  it  not." 


MISSIONARY  JOURNEYS:  YORKSHIRE  61 


At  York  Minster  his  reception  was  less  favourable. 
After  the  minister  had  ended  his  sermon,  Fox  told  the 
congregation  that  he  had  something  from  the  Lord 
God  to  speak  to  the  priest  and  people.  "  Then  say  on 
quickly,"  said  a  "  professor  "  that  was  among  them,  for 
it  was  frost  and  snow  and  very  cold  weather.  When  it 
became  plain  to  the  audience  that  he  had  no  new 
doctrine  to  expound,  but  only  to  remind  them  that  God 
Almighty  looked  for  fruits  from  among  them,  and  that 
mere  words  were  no  life-giving  atmosphere  for  the  soul, 
either  the  cold  of  the  great  minster,  or  the  unattractive 
character  of  the  message,  made  them  impatient,  and 
they  hurried  him  forth,  and  threw  him  down  the  steps, 
but  he  arose  unhurt,  and  went  to  his  lodgings.  "  Several," 
says  Fox,  "  were  convinced  there,  for  the  very  groans 
that  arose  from  the  weight  and  oppression  that  was 
upon  the  Spirit  of  God  in  me  would  open  people  and 
strike  them,  and  make  them  confess  that  the  groans 
which  broke  forth  through  me  did  reach  them :  for  my 
life  was  burdened  with  their  profession  without  posses- 
sion, and  words  without  fruit." 

He  passed  on  into  Cleveland,  and  found  there  some 
people  who  apparently  had  for  a  time  professed  doctrines 
similar  to  his  own,  but  who  were  then  "all  shattered 
to  pieces,  and  the  heads  of  them  turned  Ranters."  He 
told  them  that  this  change  had  come  over  them  because 
they  had  not  patiently  waited  upon  God  to  feel  His 
power  in  their  meetings.  For  want  of  this  patient 
waiting  they  had  "  spoken  themselves  dry :  they  had 
spent  their  [spiritual]  portions ;  and  not  living  in  that 
which  they  spoke  of,  they  were  now  become  dry.  They 
had  some  kind  of  meetings  still,  but  they  took  tobacco 
and  drank  ale  in  their  meetings,  and  were  grown  light 


62 


GEORGE  FOX 


and  loose."  The  Ranter  chiefs  of  the  congregation 
seem  to  have  resisted  Fox's  admonitions,  but  the  rank 
and  file  accepted  his  teaching  with  eagerness,  and  a 
large  meeting  was  set  up  in  that  place. 

At  another  town  in  the  same  region,  a  leader  of  the 
Ranters  named  Bushel  came  to  a  discussion  with  Fox, 
which  he  opened  in  an  unexpected  manner.  "  He  told 
me  he  had  had  a  vision  of  me,  that  I  was  sitting  in  a 
great  chair,  and  that  he  was  to  come  and  put  off  his 
hat,  and  bow  down  to  the  ground  before  me  :  and  he 
did  so,  and  many  other  flattering  words  he  spoke.  I 
told  him  it  was  his  own  figure,  and  said  unto  him, 
'  Repent,  thou  beast.'  He  said  it  was  jealousy  in  me  to 
say  so.  Then  I  asked  him  the  ground  of  jealousy,  and 
how  it  came  to  be  bred  in  man,  and  the  nature  of  a  beast, 
what  made  it,  and  how  it  was  bred  in  man.  For  I  saw 
him  directly  in  the  nature  of  a  beast :  and  therefore  I 
wished  to  know  of  him  how  that  nature  came  to  be  bred 
in  him.  ...  So  I  stopped  his  mouth,  and  all  his  fellow 
Ranters  were  silenced,  for  he  was  the  head  of  them." 

A  little  later,  when  Fox  returned  into  this  district, 
and  was  cordially  welcomed  by  his  friends  Captain 
Pursloe  and  Justice  Hotham,  the  latter  said  to  him,  "  If 
God  had  not  raised  up  this  principle  of  light  and  life 
which  you  preach,  the  nation  had  been  overcome  with 
Ranterism,  and  all  the  justices  in  the  nation  could  not 
have  stopped  it  with  all  their  laws,  because  (said  he) 
they  would  have  said  as  we  said,  and  done  as  we 
commanded,  and  yet  have  kept  their  own  principle 
still.  But  this  principle  of  truth  (said  he)  overthrows 
their  principle  and  the  root  and  ground  thereof,  and 
therefore  he  was  glad  the  Lord  had  raised  up  this 
principle  of  life  and  truth." 


CHAPTER  VI 


SWARTHMOOR  HALL 

In  the  summer  of  1652,  when  Fox  was  just  entering 
upon  the  twenty-ninth  year  of  his  age,  he  paid  his 
memorable  visit  to  the  Fells  of  Swarthmoor.  Like 
Mohammed's  flight  to  Medina,  or  Calvin's  journey  to 
Geneva,  this  visit  marked  a  crisis  in  the  history  of  a 
new  religious  movement.  Hitherto  the  preaching  of 
the  Quaker  missionaries,  though  earnest  and  powerful, 
had  been  perhaps  of  a  somewhat  sporadic  kind,  and 
had  not  built  up  an  organized  and  coherent  body  of 
believers.  Now,  under  the  fostering  care  of  a  devout 
and  energetic  woman,  mistress  of  a  hospitable  country- 
house,  and  surrounded  by  a  little  clan  of  children  and 
dependents,  who  were  partakers  of  her  enthusiasm, 
Quakerism  in  the  north  of  England  grew  to  such  a  size 
as  seriously  to  alarm  the  "  professors "  of  the  other 
churches  and  sects,  and  to  give  a  cruel  edge  to  their 
efforts  for  its  suppression. 

The  district  of  Furness,  in  which  Swarthmoor  Hall  is 
situated,  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque  in  England. 
The  hematite  iron  ore  which  lay  concealed  beneath  its 
surface  in  George  Fox's  days  has  within  the  last  half- 
century  been  abundantly  worked,  and  the  district, 
which  was  purely  agricultural  and  pastoral,  has  now  a 

63 


64 


GEORGE  FOX 


large  mining  and  manufacturing  population.  But 
though  the  blast  furnaces  of  Barrow  now  vomit  forth 
their  clouds  of  smoke  to  the  sky,  they  do  not  avail  to 
greatly  mar  the  beauty  of  the  landscapes  of  Furness. 
Still  on  a  summer  day  the  hills  round  Lancaster  lie  in 
dreamy  beauty  on  the  other  side  of  the  wide-reaching 
Morecambe  Bay ;  and  still  the  blue  dome  of  Coniston 
Old  Man,  and  the  ridge  of  Walney  Scar,  are  seen  from 
the  northern  windows  of  Swarthmoor  Hall  rising  into 
a  pure  and  smokeless  sky. 

Till  the  middle  of  the  present  century  Furness  was 
still  practically  an  island.  The  Coniston  range  shut  it 
out  from  Cumberland,  the  lake  and  mountains  of 
Windermere  separated  it  from  Westmoreland ;  though 
politically  forming  part  of  the  county  of  Lancaster,  it 
had  to  be  approached  from  that  town  by  a  long  and 
sometimes  perilous  journey,  which  could  only  be  per- 
formed at  low  water  across  the  broad  sands  which  made 
the  estuaries  of  two  rivers,  the  Kent  and  the  Leven.1 

In  the  Middle  Ages,  guides  over  these  dangerous 
sands  were  provided,  and  hospitality  to  strangers  was 
practised  by  the  abbots  of  the  two  great  monasteries 
of  Furness  and  Cartmel,  who  owned  between  them 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  peninsula.    Now,  of  course, 

1  See  a  valuable  paper  by  Mr.  John  Fell  (a  collateral  descend- 
ant of  Judge  Fell)  in  Transactions  of  Cumberland  and  Westmore- 
land Archaeological  Society,  xi.  368.  As  he  says,  "With  the 
estuary  of  the  Dudden  to  the  north,  and  the  watershed  boundaries 
between  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland,  Lonsdale  north  of  the 
sands  may  be  described  as  an  island,  and  its  inhabitants,  until 
the  railway  connected  it  with  the  main  body  of  the  country,  as 
an  insular  people.  Up  to  a  comparatively  recent  date  it  may  be 
said  that  the  same  families  had  been  settled  in  the  district  from 
time  immemorial.  A  stranger  was  promptly  detected,  and  with- 
out much  ceremony  made  aware  that  he  was  regarded  in  the  local 
phraseology  as  an  '  outcome.' " 


SWARTHMOOR  HALL 


65 


these  great  ecclesiastics  had  disappeared  from  the 
scene,  and  the  descendants  of  the  men  who  had  once 
held  land  under  them  as  their  vassals  were  now 
emerging  into  the  position  of  landowners  on  their  own 
account.  One  of  the  largest  of  these  landowners  was 
Thomas  Fell,  or  as  he  is  more  often  called  Judge  Fell, 
who  lived  at  Swarthmoor  Hall,  a  comfortable  country 
house  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  Ulverston, 
which  was  probably  built  by  his  father.  Thomas  Fell, 
who  was  born  about  1598,  was  descended  from  an  old 
Furness  family  of  the  kind  just  described,  and  he  or 
his  immediate  ancestors  had  invested  largely  in  the 
lands  which  had  once  belonged  to  the  Abbey  of  Furness 
and  the  Priory  of  Conishead.  Having  kept  his  terms 
at  Gray's  Inn,  and  been  called  to  the  Bar,  he  espoused 
the  cause  of  the  Parliament  against  the  King  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  and  was  successively  ap- 
pointed Justice  of  the  Peace  for  Lancashire  (1641), 
Parliamentary  Sequestrator  of  Forfeited  Estates  (1642), 
and  chief  layman  in  the  "  classical  presbytery,"  which 
was  to  discharge  duties  similar  to  a  bishop's  in  the 
district  of  Furness  (1646).  In  1645,  as  one  of  the  so- 
called  "  Recruiters,"  he  was  chosen  member  of  Parlia- 
ment for  his  county,  and  (probably  soon  after)  he  was 
appointed  one  of  the  Judges  of  Assize  of  the  Chester 
and  North  Wales  Circuit.  In  1652  i  he  went  the 
Northern  Circuit  along  with  Bradshaw  the  regicide, 
and  three  years  later  he  succeeded  that  politician  in  the 
high  office  of  Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster.1 

Altogether  it  is  obvious  that  "  Judge  Fell "  was  a 
man  of  high  position  both  in  his  county  and  in  the 

1  For  these  details  I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  Henry  Barber's 
Furness  and  Cartmel  Notes,  p.  232. 


66 


GEORGE  FOX 


Parliamentary  party.  He  refused  to  be  reckoned 
among  the  adherents  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  and  probably 
expressed  openly  his  disapproval  of  the  dissolution  of 
the  Long  Parliament,  but  he  seems  to  have  remained 
on  friendly  terms  with  the  great  Protector,  who  pre- 
sented him  on  some  occasion  with  a  silver  cup,  which 
was  long  preserved  in  the  Judge's  family. 

It  was  not,  however,  the  quiet,  prosperous,  moderate- 
minded  lawyer  but  his  enthusiastic  wife  who  made  the 
name  of  Swarthmoor  famous  in  the  religious  history  of 
England.  In  1632,  twenty  years  before  George  Fox's 
visit  to  Furness,  the  rising  barrister  Thomas  Fell 
married  Margaret  Askew,  daughter  of  the  owner  of  the 
neighbouring  estate  of  Marsh  Grange,  but  also — a  far 
more  significant  fact — great-grand-daughter  of  Anne 
Askew,  whose  fame  yet  survives  as  one  of  the  noblest 
and  the  most  pathetically  wronged  of  the  Protestant 
martyrs  under  Henry  the  Eighth.  Something  of  the 
spirit  of  her  martyred  ancestress  survived  in  Margaret 
Fell.  Though  she  was  not  tried  by  the  rack  or  the 
fire  of  martyrdom,  it  was  hers  to  suffer  loss  of  worldly 
goods,  and  to  spend  long  years  in  loathsome  dungeons. 
During  these  years  of  imprisonment,  the  verses  com- 
posed by  her  great  progenitor,  when  she  too  was  lan- 
guishing in  Newgate  prison,  may  often  have  recurred 
to  her  memory  : — 

"  Like  as  the  armed  knyglite 
Appointed  to  the  field, 
With  thys  world  will  I  fyghte, 
And  faythe  shall  be  my  shield. 

*         *         *  * 

Faythe  in  the  fathers  olde 
Obtayned  righteoysness, 


SWARTHMOOR  HALL 


67 


Which  makes  me  verye  bolde, 
To  feare  no  world  e's  distress. 

*          *          *  * 

Thou  sayst,  Lord,  whoso  knocke 

To  them  wilt  Thou  attende  : 
Undo  therefor  the  locke, 

And  Thy  strong  power  sende. 

On  Thee  my  care  I  cast, 

For  all  their  cruel  spyght 
I  set  not  by  their  hast, 

For  Thou  art  my  delyght." 

Margaret  Fell,  who  was  sixteen  years  younger  than 
her  husband,  was  only  eighteen  when  he  brought  her 
as  a  bride  to  Swarthmoor  Hall.  She  was  now  a  middle- 
aged  woman  of  eight-and-thirty,  the  mother  of  six 
daughters1  and  one  son,  ranging  from  infancy  up  to 
nineteen  years  of  age.  The  house  in  which  they  lived 
is  still  preserved,  and  though  now  only  a  farm-house,  it 
is  in  a  good  state  of  preservation,  and  is  well  worthy  of 
a  visit,  even  independently  of  its  special  connection 
with  Quaker  history;  for,  perhaps  owing  to  the 
reverence  with  which  Fox's  memory  was  regarded,  it 
has  almost  entirely  escaped  the  effacing  hand  of  the 
modern  builder,  and  remains  a  complete  picture  of  an 
English  country  house  of  three  centuries  ago.  We 
still  see  the  tolerably  spacious  dining-hall  in  which 
Fox's  disciples  used  to  assemble,  the  little  justice-room 
adjoining  it,  in  which  the  Judge  used  to  transact  his 
business,  and  where  he  would  often  sit  with  half- 
opened  door  to  hear  the  preaching  which  he  would  not 
too  manifestly  countenance.  Overhead  is  the  bed- 
room which  tradition  assigns  to  Fox  as  his  guest- 

1  A  seventh  daughter,  Rachel,  from  whom  most  of  Judge  Fell's 
living  descendants  sprang,  was  born  in  1653. 


68 


GEORGE  FOX 


chamber,  and  near  it  the  J  udge's  bedroom,  wainscotted, 
and  with  beautifully  carved  wood-work.  Between  these 
two  rooms  is  a  closet  which  might  have  been  a  secret 
hiding-place,  and  a  window,  formerly  a  door  in  the 
outer  wall  of  the  house,  where,  as  the  legend  says,  Fox 
used  to  stand  and  address  the  people  from  an  elevation 
of  some  twelve  or  thirteen  feet,  when  the  multitude  was 
too  large  to  be  assembled  in  the  great  hall. 

We  leave  the  house,  and  journeying  for  about  half- 
a-mile  through  fields  and  country  lanes,  we  reach  the 
little  meeting-house,  which  bears  on  its  front  the 
inscription — - 

E  DONO      G.  FOX 
1688. 

After  the  Quaker  church  had  used  Swarthmoor  Hall 
as  its  place  of  meeting  for  twenty-six  years,  its  founder 
bought  a  little  piece  of  ground,  and  on  it  erected  this 
modest  edifice,  which  he  presented  to  "  the  Monthly 
Meeting  of  Swarthmoor."  The  windows  have  been 
unfortunately  modernized,  but  in  its  high  gallery  (or 
"  loft ")  the  house  still  shows  the  primitive  pattern  of 
the  places  of  worship  reared  by  the  "  Friends."  The 
most  interesting  relic  in  the  place  is  the  old  black-letter 
Bible  presented  to  the  meeting  by  George  Fox,  and 
still  bearing  the  links  of  the  iron  chain  by  which  in 
old  time  it  was  fastened  to  the  reading-desk.1 

Such  was  Swarthmoor  Hall  in  the  summer  of  1652, 
when  George  Fox  came  to  it  in  the  course  of  his 

1  This  Bible  is  a  specimen  of  the  edition  of  1541,  commonly 
called  the  "Treacle"  Bible,  from  the  translation  of  Jeremiah 
viii.  22 — "  Is  there  no  treacle  [balm]  in  Gilead  1  is  there  no 
physician  there  ? " 


SWARTHMOOR  HALL 


missionary  journey.  He  had  been  spending  some  weeks 
in  the  dales  of  Yorkshire  and  Lancashire,  regions  now 
filled  with  busy  industries,  then  guiltless  of  a  factory 
chimney.  He  had  with  difficulty  climbed  the  steep 
and  high  hill  of  Pendle  in  Lancashire,  and  looking  over 
the  intervening  lands  to  the  Irish  Channel,  had  seen  a 
Pisgah-vision  of  "  the  places  in  which  a  great  people 
should  be  gathered."  Journeying  onwards  to  Wensley- 
dale  and  Sedbergh,  he  had  there  a  vision  of  "  a  great 
people  in  white  raiment  coming  to  the  Lord ";  and 
from  thence  passing  into  Westmoreland,  he  made  con- 
verts of  two  Puritan  ministers,  Francis  Howgill  and 
John  Audland,  who  became  eminent  preachers  among 
"  the  Children  of  Light."  So  through  Kendal  (which 
was  one  day  to  be  one  of  the  great  centres  of  Quakerism 
in  the  north  of  England),  Fox  came  into  Furness,  and 
in  process  of  time  reached  the  hospitable  shelter  of 
Swarthmoor  Hall.  The  Hall  was  a  well-known  resting- 
place  for  Puritan  lecturers,  who,  as  Margaret  Fell  says, 
"  often  had  prayers  and  religious  exercises  in  our  family. 
This  I  hoped  I  did  well  in,  but  often  feared  I  was  short 
of  the  right  way  ;  and  after  this  manner  I  was  inquiring 
and  seeking  about  twenty  years." 

On  the  day  of  Fox's  arrival,  it  happened  that  the 
mistress  of  the  Hall  was  absent,  but  ere  long  the  clergy- 
man of  Ulverston,  a  certain  Mr.  Lampitt,  appeared  upon 
the  scene.  Of  him,  as  of  "  Priest  Stevens  "  of  Fenny 
Drayton,  we  have  two  opposite,  and  in  fact  irreconcil- 
able accounts.  In  Calamy's  Ejected  Ministers  he  appears 
as  "a  warm  and  lively  preacher  in  the  region  beyond 
the  sands,  who  lived  obscurely  (after  his  ejection  on 
St.  Bartholomew's  Day),  and  died  in  the  year  1677." 
In  Fox's  Journal  he  figures  as  "  a  high  notionist  with 


70 


GEORGE  FOX 


whom  I  bad  much  reasoning,  for  he  talked  of  high 
notions  and  perfection,  and  thereby  deceived  the 
people.  He  would  have  owned  me,  but  I  could  not 
own  nor  join  with  him,  he  was  so  full  of  filth." 

A  discussion  followed,  as  to  which  one  thing  at  least 
is  clear,  that  neither  of  the  disputants  understood  what 
the  other  was  contending  for.  According  to  Fox,  Lam- 
pitt  said  "  he  was  above  John,  and  made  as  if  he  knew 
nil  things."  He  confessed  "  he  had  been  under  a  cross 
in  things,  but  now  he  could  sing  psalms  and  do  any- 
thing." Fox  told  him,  "  Now  he  could  see  a  thief  and 
join  hand  in  hand  with  him,  but  he  could  not  preach 
Moses  nor  the  prophets,  nor  John  nor  Christ,  except 
he  were  in  the  same  spirit  that  they  were  in."  At 
night  Mrs.  Fell  returned,  and  was  distressed  to  hear 
from  her  children  of  the  dispute  between  the  guest 
and  Priest  Lampitt,  "because  she  was  in  profession 
with  him  :  but  he  hid  his  dirty  actions  from  them.  At 
night,"  continues  Fox,  "  we  had  much  reasoning,  and  I 
declared  the  truth  to  her  and  her  family." 

Next  day  Lampitt  returned,  and  had  another  argu- 
ment in  the  presence  of  Margaret  Fell,  "  who  then 
clearly  discerned  the  priest.  A  convincement  of  the 
Lord's  truth  came  upon  her  and  her  family."  There 
was  one  of  the  great  Parliamentary  fasts  due  about 
this  time,  and  a  "  lecture  "  (i.  e.  a  sermon  of  some  hours' 
duration)  was  to  be  given  in  the  parish  church  of 
Ulverston.  Mrs.  Fell  asked  Fox  to  accompany  her  to 
the  church.  He  at  first  refused,  preferring  to  wander 
about  in  the  fields,  but  afterwards,  in  obedience,  as  he 
conceived,  to  a  Divine  command,  he  went  into  the 
church,  where  it  may  be  supposed  the  lecture  was 
ended,  for  the  people  were  singing  a  hymn.    To  quote 


SWARTIIMOOR  HALL 


71 


his  own  words,  "When  I  came  Lampitt  was  singing 
with  his  people :  but  his  spirit  was  so  foul,  and  the 
matter  which  they  sang  so  unsuitable  to  their  states, 
that  after  they  had  done  singing,  I  was  moved  of  the 
Lord  to  speak  to  him  and  the  people."  Having  asked 
and  obtained  leave  to  do  so  from  the  clergyman,  Fox 
stood  up  on  a  form  and  repeated  the  text,  "  He  is  not 
a  Jew  that  is  one  outwardly :  neither  is  that  circum- 
cision which  is  outward  in  the  flesh :  but  he  is  a  Jew 
which  is  one  inwardly,  and  circumcision  is  of  the  heart." 
He  went  on  with  his  favourite  theme — Christ  the  Light 
of  the  world  :  the  universality  of  this  Light :  an  entreaty 
to  the  congregation  to  come  to  it,  that  by  its  power  they 
might  be  gathered  to  God.  As  he  spoke,  the  mistress 
of  Swartbmoor  Hall  stood  up  in  the  family  pew  wonder- 
ing at  his  doctrine,  for  she  had  never  heard  anything 
like  it  before.  "The  Scriptures,"  said  Fox,  "what 
are  they  but  the  words  of  prophets,  of  Christ  and  His 
apostles,  uttered  by  men  who  enjoyed  and  possessed 
this  Light  which  they  received  from  the  Lord  ?  What 
have  you  to  do  with  the  words  of  the  Scriptures,  unless 
you  come  to  the  same  Spirit  which  gave  them  forth  ? 
You  open  the  Bible,  and  say, '  Christ  saith  this,'  and  the 
'  apostles  say  that,'  but  what  do  you  say  yourselves  ? 
Art  thou  a  child  of  the  Light  ?  Hast  thou  walked  in 
the  Light  ?  What  thou  sayest  concerning  God,  does  it 
come  to  thee  inwardly  from  Him  ? " 

"  These  questions,"  says  Margaret  Fell,  "  cut  me  to 
the  heart ;  and  then  I  saw  clearly  we  were  all  wrong. 
So  I  sat  down  in  my  pew  again,  and  cried  bitterly; 
and  I  cried  in  my  spirit  to  the  Lord,  '  We  are  all 
thieves:  we  are  all  thieves:  we  have  taken  the  Scrip- 
tures in  words,  and  know  nothing  of  them  in  ourselves.'" 


72 


GEORGE  FOX 


The  preacher  meanwhile  went  on,  and  with  something 
of  an  old  prophet's  fervour  denounced  the  false  prophets 
and  priests  and  deceivers  of  the  people.  "The  Lord 
God,"  he  said,  "is  come  to  teach  His  people  by  His 
own  Spirit,  and  to  bring  them  off  from  all  their  old 
ways,  religions,  churches,  and  worships :  for  all  these 
things  are  but  talking  with  other  men's  words,  and 
they  are  out  of  the  Life  and  Spirit  in  which  those  men 
dwelt  by  whom  the  Scriptures  were  given  forth." 

At  this  point  of  the  discourse  a  Puritan  magistrate 
named  Sawrey  called  out  to  the  churchwarden,  "  Take 
him  away,"  but  from  the  squire's  pew  was  heard  the 
voice  of  Margaret  Fell  exclaiming,  "  Let  him  alone — 
why  may  not  he  speak  as  well  as  any  other  ? "  Either 
in  complaisance  to  his  hospitable  neighbour,  or  out  of 
a  desire  to  give  Fox  a  fair  hearing,  Lampitt  gave  his 
voice  on  the  same  side,  "  Let  him  speak."  Thus  be- 
tween one  master  and  another  the  churchwarden  went 
backwards  and  forwards,  often  seizing  hold  of  Fox's 
arm,  and  then  letting  him  go  again.  At  length  the 
strange  sermon  was  ended,  and  the  people  of  Ulverston 
dispersed  to  their  homes,  much  meditating,  we  may  be 
sure,  on  the  unusual  scenes  of  that  fast  day.1 

In  the  evening  Fox  addressed  the  family  in  Swarth- 
moor  Hall.  Mother  and  daughters,  mistress  and  ser- 
vants, seem  to  have  been  all  convinced  by  his  ministry, 
and  became  lifelong  adherents  of  the  new  principle  of 
the  Inward  Light.  One  at  least  of  the  servants2  be- 
came afterwards  a  celebrated  Quaker  preacher;  but 

1  I  have  tried  to  combine  here  the  two  narratives  of  George  Fox 
in  the  Journal,  and  Margaret  Fox  in  her  "Testimony,"  giving 
the  preference  to  the  latter  where  the  details  of  the  story  differ. 

2  Thomas  Salthouse. 


SW ARTHMOOR  HALL 


73 


the  most  interesting  conversion  was  that  of  a  young 
lad  named  William  Caton,  then  about  seventeen  years 
old,  who  had  been  for  three  years  in  the  Judge's  family, 
being  entertained  as  bosom  friend  and  companion  of 
George  Fell,  the  heir  of  Swarthmoor.  He  had  shared 
the  young  squire's  diversions,  his  hunting,  fishing,  and 
shooting ;  he  had  also  shared  with  him  the  instructions 
of  a  neighbouring  clergyman,  who  was  preparing  the 
lads  for  college,  and  afterwards  had  gone  with  him  to 
Hawkshead  school.  Now  however  that  he  had  been 
so  powerfully  moved  by  the  words  of  the  Quaker 
apostle,  his  views  of  life  changed.  Not  only  fishing 
and  shooting,  but  the  composition  of  Latin  verses  were 
burdensome  to  his  spirit,  "  because  he  could  not  any 
longer  give  his  thoughts  that  liberty  for  invention 
which  others  did :  neither  could  he  any  longer  give 
the  master  of  the  school  the  compliment  of  his  hat  as 
he  was  used  to  do." 1  He  renounced  the  hope  of  a  Uni- 
versity education ;  remained  for  some  little  time  at 
Swarthmoor  Hall  as  tutor  and  amanuensis  to  Margaret 
Fell;  then  went  forth  into  England,  Holland,  and  France 
as  a  missionary  of  the  new  doctrines;  suffered  the  whip- 
pings, mob-beatings,  and  imprisonments  which  were 
the  portion  of  a  Quaker  preacher  in  those  days,  and 
finally  died  at  Amsterdam  in  1665,  in  the  thirtieth 
year  of  his  age.  He  was  probably  about  the  best 
educated  and  most  refined  minister  of  the  first  gener- 
ation of  the  Society  of  Friends. 

Meantime,  while  these  singular  events  were  happen- 
ing at  Swarthmoor  Hall,  where  was  its  master  ?  Judge 
Fell  was  away  upon  the  Welsh  Circuit,  and  did  not 
return  till  about  three  weeks  after  Fox's  visit.    On  his 

1  Sewel,  History  of  Society  of  Friends,  i.  279  (Edition  1833). 


74 


GEORGE  FOX 


return  journey,  he  was  met  by  several  of  the  captaius 
of  Cromwell's  army,  and  the  chief  gentry  of  the  county. 
One  can  imagine  them  riding  forth  over  the  wide  wet 
sands  to  tell  the  Judge  the  news  of  his  great  disaster. 
"  Your  wife  and  all  your  family  are  bewitched.  They 
are  all  seduced  from  the  Christian  religion:  and  unless 
you  can  send  away  the  men  who  have  done  this  thing 
the  whole  county  will  be  undone."  With  clouded 
brow,  the  usually  good-tempered  elderly  man  returned 
to  his  home ;  his  poor  wife  feeling  herself  to  be  brought 
into  a  grievous  strait,  "that  she  must  either  displease 
her  husband  or  offend  God."  Fox  himself  was  not  to 
arrive  in  the  house  till  evening.  Two  other  ministers, 
James  Naylor  and  Richard  Farnsworth,  were  brought  in 
to  speak  to  the  Judge,  which  they  did  "  moderately  and 
nicely."  He  was  at  first  greatly  displeased  with  them, 
but  at  last  accepted  their  assurances  that  they  came 
only  in  love  and  good-will  to  his  house.  By  this  time 
"  he  was  pretty  moderate  and  quiet,"  says  his  wife,  "  and 
his  dinner  being  ready  he  went  to  it,  and  I  went  in 
and  sat  me  down  by  him."  "  And  while  I  was  sitting 
the  power  of  the  Lord  seized  upon  me;  and  he  was 
struck  with  amazement,  and  knew  not  what  to  think, 
but  was  quiet  and  still.  And  the  children  were  all 
quiet  and  still,  and  grown  sober,  and  could  not  play 
at  their  music  that  they  were  learning,  and  all  these 
things  made  him  quiet  and  still." 

In  the  evening  Fox  arrived,  and  the  dreaded  inter- 
view passed  off  better  than  Margaret  Fell  had  feared. 
A  Yorkshire  magistrate  named  Robinson  had  spoken 
highly  in  praise  of  George  Fox  to  many  Parliament- 
men.  Fell  was  relieved  on  finding  that  this  was  the 
man  who  now  stood  before  him.     The  good  word  of 


SWARTHMOOR  HALL 


75 


"Justice  Hotham"  also  went  for  something,  and  in 
the  end,  after  Fox  had  spoken  at  some  length  in  de- 
fence of  his  new  doctrine,  Judge  Fell  quieted  down 
and  ceased  to  demand  the  instant  departure  of  him- 
self and  his  friends.  He  never  actually  joined  the 
new  sect;  perhaps  his  official  position  made  that  seem 
almost  impossible.  But  he  seems  to  have  been  more 
than  half  convinced,  and  often  said  that  he  wished  his 
colleague  (who  seems  to  have  been  also  his  patron) 
Judge  Bradshaw  could  hear  Fox's  discourses.  He 
willingly  acquiesced  in  the  meeting  of  the  Friends 
being  held  in  the  dining-room  of  Swarthmoor  Hall, 
and  as  we  have  seen,  according  to  the  tradition, 
often  sat  in  his  study  with  door  ajar  to  hear  the 
ministers'  sermons;  but  as  a  rule  he  rode  off  alone, 
or  accompanied  only  by  his  clerk  and  a  groom,  to  the 
parish  church  at  Ulverston.  Much  did  "Priest 
Lampitt "  and  his  friend  "  Justice  Sawrey "  chafe 
at  seeing  the  once  well  filled  pew  of  Swarthmoor 
Hall  tenanted  only  by  those  three  melancholy  male 
figures. 

The  effect,  however,  which  was  produced  on  at  least 
one  unprejudiced  observer  by  the  sight  of  the  family 
at  Swarthmoor  Hall  under  the  changed  conditions  of 
their  spiritual  life,  may  be  learned  from  the  following 
letter,  written  by  a  magistrate  named  Anthony  Pearson, 
who  after  joining  in  a  prosecution  of  two  of  the  Quaker 
ministers  for  blasphemy,  became  himself  a  Friend,  and 
was  one  of  the  first  to  preach  the  new  doctrines  in  the 
city  of  London.  The  letter  is  believed  to  be  addressed 
to  Colonel  Benson,  a  brother  magistrate,  who  had  also 
from  an  opponent  become  a  staunch  supporter  of  "  the 
Children  of  the  Light " :— 


76 


GEORGE  FOX 


"Dear  Friend, 

"  I  have  long  professed  to  serve  and  worship 
the  true  God,  and  as  I  thought,  above  many  attained  to 
a  high  pitch  in  religion ;  but  now  alas !  I  find  my  work 
will  not  abide  the  fire.  My  notions  were  swelling 
vanities  without  power  or  life.  What  it  was  to  love 
enemies,  to  bless  them  that  curse,  to  render  good  for 
evil,  to  use  the  world  as  using  it  not,  to  lay  down  life 
for  the  brethren,  I  never  understood :  what  purity  and 
perfection  meant  I  never  tasted.  All  my  religion  was 
but  from  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  the  believing  and 
talking  of  a  God  and  Christ  in  heaven ;  or  at  a  place 
at  a  distance  I  knew  not  where.  Oh !  how  gracious 
was  the  Lord  to  me  in  carrying  me  to  Judge  Fell's,  to 
see  the  wonders  of  His  power  and  wisdom — a  family 
walking  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  conversing  daily  with 
Him,  crucified  to  the  world,  and  living  only  to  God.  I 
was  so  confounded,  that  all  my  knowledge  and  wisdom 
became  as  folly :  my  mouth  was  stopped,  my  conscience 
convinced,  the  secrets  of  my  heart  were  made  manifest, 
and  the  Lord  was  discovered  to  be  near,  whom  I  ignor- 
antly  worshipped.  I  could  have  talked  of  Christ,  of 
the  saints  and  the  hope  of  glory,  but  it  was  all  a  riddle 
to  me. 

"  Truly,  dear  friend,  I  must  tell  thee  I  have  now  lost 
all  my  religion,  and  am  in  such  distress,  I  have  no  hope 
nor  foundation  left.  My  justification  and  assurance 
have  forsaken  me,  and  I  am  even  like  a  poor  shattered 
vessel  tossed  to  and  fro  without  a  pilot  or  rudder — as 
blind,  dead,  and  helpless  as  thou  canst  imagine. 
****** 

"  What  thou  told  me  of  George  Fox  I  found  true. 
When  thou  seest  him  or  James  Naylor  (they  both 


SWARTHMOOR  HALL 


77 


know  my  condition  better  than  myself),  move  them  (if 
neither  of  them  be  drawn  this  way)  to  help  me  with 
their  counsel  by  letter.  They  are  full  of  pity  and  com- 
passion, and  though  I  was  their  enemy,  they  are  my 
friends :  and  so  is  Francis  Howgill,  from  whom  I 
received  a  letter  full  of  tenderness  and  wholesome 
advice.1  Oh !  how  welcome  would  the  faces  of  any  of 
them  be  to  me.  Truly  I  think  I  could  scorn  the  world, 
to  have  fellowship  with  them.  But  I  find  my  heart  is 
full  of  deceit,  and  I  exceedingly  fear  to  be  beguiled,  as 
I  have  been,  and  to  be  seduced  into  a  form  without 
power,  into  a  profession  before  I  possess  the  truth : 
which  would  but  multiply  my  misery,  and  deprive  me 
both  of  God  and  the  world. 

*****  * 

"  I  am  afraid  lest  the  orders  we  made  at  Appleby 
cause  some  to  suffer,  who  speak  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Lord :  I  heartily  wish  they  were  suppressed  or 
recalled. 

"  I  have  seen  at  Judge  Fell's,  and  have  been  in- 
formed from  that  precious  soul  his  consort,  in  some 
measure  what  these  things  mean,  which  before  I  counted 
the  overflowings  of  giddy  brains.  Dear  heart,  pity  and 
pray  for  me  :  and  let  all  obligations  of  former  friendship 
be  discharged  in  well  wishes  to  the  soul  of  the  old 
family  friend,  that  he  may  partake  with  them  of 
heavenly  possessions."  2 

1  Naylor  and  Howgill  were  the  two  ministers  whom  Pearson 
had  assisted  in  prosecuting  for  blasphemy. 

2  I  am  indebted  to  Mrs.  Webb's  Fells  of  Swarthmoor  Hall  for 
the  reference  to  this  letter,  which  is  in  the  Swarthmoor  collection 
of  MSS.  at  Devonshire  House. 


78 


GEORGE  FOX 


Whatever  may  be  thought  of  some  of  George  Fox's 
utterances,  it  is  clear  from  such  letters  as  this  that  his 
message  was  one  which  stirred  the  souls  of  men  to  their 
very  depths,  calling  forth  in  some  enthusiastic  and 
eager  acceptance,  while  it  roused  others  to  the  bitterest 
opposition. 


CHAPTER  VII 


AT  LANCASTER.  AND  CARLISLE 

After  the  halcyon  days  which  Fox  and  his  compan- 
ions spent  under  the  hospitable  roof  of  Swarthmoor 
Hall,  came  beatings  and  buffetings,  and  the  strange 
and  somewhat  obscure  episode  of  his  trial  for  blasphemy 
at  Lancaster  Quarter  Sessions. 

In  August  1650,  Parliament  had  passed  an  Act 
called  the  Blasphemy  Act,  for  the  punishment  of 
atheistical,  blasphemous,  and  execrable  opinions.  This 
Act,  says  the  historian  of  the  Commonwealth,1  had 
none  of  the  inquisitorial  character  which  attached  to 
the  monstrous  blasphemy  ordinance  of  1648.  It  meted 
out  six  months'  imprisonment  for  the  first  offence,  and 
banishment,  with  prohibition  of  return  on  pain  of 
death,  for  the  second,  and  that  in  two  cases  only — the 
affirming  that  any  human  being  was  God,  or  a  mani- 
festation of  God,  and  the  affirming  that  acts  of  gross 
immorality  "  were  indifferent  or  even  positively  re- 
ligious." The  second  clause  was  aimed  at  some  of  the 
extreme  party  among  the  Ranters.  It  was  apparently 
under  the  first  that  George  Fox  was  called  to  stand  in 
the  dock  at  Lancaster  Quarter  Sessions. 

1  Gardiner,  i.  395. 
79 


80 


GEORGE  FOX 


To  us  Europeans  of  the  nineteenth  century,  it  is 
almost  inconceivable  that  an  Act  of  Parliament  should 
ever  have  seemed  to  be  necessary  in  order  to  prevent 
men  from  giving  themselves  out  as  manifestations  of 
the  Godhead.  The  Creator  seems  so  unimaginably 
great,  and  man  so  miserably  little,  that  to  us  the 
serpent's  voice,  "  Ye  shall  be  as  gods,"  whispers  an  un- 
intelligible temptation.  Yet  even  in  our  own  day,  in 
Eastern  lands,  multitudes  of  men  have  been  willing  to 
suffer  imprisonment,  confiscation  of  their  goods,  even 
death  itself,  in  testimony  of  their  faith  in  a  man  of 
holy  life,  whom  they  regarded  as  "  the  Gate  of  the 
Godhead."1  In  England,  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
there  was  not  perhaps  the  Oriental  willingness  to  accept 
on  slight  proof  the  theory  of  an  Incarnation,  but  in  the 
fervid,  highly  exalted  state  of  men's  minds,  steeped  in 
Bible  language  and  Bible  imagery,  there  seems  to  have 
been  at  least  a  disposition  in  some  quarters  to  anticipate 
the  coming  of  a  new  Messiah. 

Did  George  Fox  for  himself  set  up  any  such  claim  of 
Messiahship  ?  It  seems  to  me  clear,  that  never,  even 
in  his  most  exalted  and  enthusiastic  moments,  did  he 
use  language  which  could  fairly  subject  him  to  such  a 
charge.  A  mystic,  it  is  true,  if  ever  there  was  one,  he 
realized  with  startling  vividness  the  nearness  of  Christ 
to  the  human  soul.  The  words,  "  Christ  in  you,  the 
hope  of  glory,"  were  the  keynote  of  all  his  teaching. 
He  thought  (sometimes  no  doubt  unjustly)  that  the 
clergy  of  the  day  were  preaching  a  dead,  or  at  any  rate 
a  far-off  and  shadowy  Christ,  a  Christ  outside  the  world 

1  See  the  very  extraordinary  Episode  of  the  Bab,  translated 
from  the  Persian  by  my  friend  Edward  G.  Browne.  (Cambridge, 
1891.) 


AT  LANCASTER  AND  CARLISLE  81 


of  men  and  the  human  soul,  and  therefore  he  repeated 
with  what  seemed  to  unsympathizing  ears  a  monotonous 
energy,  "  Christ  is  in  you :  the  Word  is  very  nigh  thee, 
in  thy  heart  and  in  thy  mouth."  But  in  all  these 
utterances  of  his  he  was  only  in  line  with  one  of  the 
earliest  Christian  martyrs,  with  Ignatius,  whose  favourite 
name  for  himself  was  Tfaeophoros,  the  God-bearer.  He 
fell  short,  we  may  venture  to  say,  of  St.  Francis,  with 
his  vision  of  the  divinely  imprinted  stigmata ;  of  St. 
Theresa,  with  her  amorous  yearnings  after  the  heavenly 
spouse.  He  expressed  in  ruder  and  harsher  language 
some  of  the  thoughts  which  have  made  the  Be  Imitatione 
Christi  for  more  than  four  centuries  the  delight  of 
Christendom. 

But  though  Fox's  own  record  seems  to  be  clear  from 
anything  amounting  to  a  claim  to  Messiahship,  it  is  not 
so  certain  that  his  disciples,  in  the  first  fervour  of  their 
conversion,  were  equally  moderate  in  their  language. 
The  two  converted  magistrates,  Benson  and  Pearson, 
even  in  protesting  against  his  imprisonment  for  blas- 
phemy, use  such  words  as  these — "  Christ  is  now 
preached  in  and  among  the  saints,  the  same  that  ever 
He  was  :  and  lecause  His  heavenly  image  is  home  up  in 
this  His  faithful  servant,  therefore  doth  fallen  man, 
rulers,  priests,  and  people,  persecute  him.  Because  he 
lives  up  out  of  the  fall,  and  testifies  against  the  works 
of  the  world  that  the  deeds  thereof  are  evil,  he  suffers 
by  you  magistrates,  not  as  an  evil-doer."  The  words 
here  used  are  susceptible  of  an  orthodox  interpreta- 
tion, but  they  would  startle  and  alarm  the  ordinary 
Presbyterian  minister. 

Moreover,  it  must  in  fairness  be  stated  that  there 
exists  among  the  Swarthmoor  manuscripts  a  letter 

G 


S2 


GEORGE  FOX 


addressed  by  the  little  family  church  at  Swarthmoor 
to  George  Fox,  in  the  first  fervour  of  their  conversion, 
in  which  they  use  language  so  high-flown  and  rhapso- 
dical, that  it  could  not  properly  be  addressed  to  any 
but  a  Divine  Saviour.  It  is  not  fair  to  charge  Fox 
himself  with  the  responsibility  for  this  paper,  which  he 
may  have  utterly  condemned;  but  the  fact  that  it  was 
ever  written  shows  what  excited  brains  there  were  in 
a  quiet  English  country  house  in  the  year  1652. 

Whatever  the  cause  might  be,  and  whether  the 
report  were  maliciously  spread  abroad  by  Lampitt 
and  Sawrey1  or  not,  the  belief  was  evidently  widely 
entertained  in  North  Lancashire  that  George  Fox  was 
a  blasphemer.  It  is  to  this,  doubtless,  that  we  must 
attribute  the  extraordinary  violence  of  an  attack  which 
was  made  upon  him  in  Ulverston  church.  It  was  a 
"lecture  day,"  and  there  was  a  large  congregation  of 
"  professors,  priests,  and  people."  "  I  went  up,"  says 
he,  "  near  to  priest  Lampitt,  who  was  blustering  on  in 
his  preaching,  and  after  the  Lord  had  opened  my  mouth 
to  speak,  John  Sawrey  the  justice  came  to  me  and 
said,  '  If  I  would  speak  according  to  the  Scriptures,  I 
should  speak.' "  There  was  a  little  altercation  on  this 
point  between  the  preacher  and  the  magistrate,  who  in 
the  end  commanded  him  to  keep  silence,  and  as  Fox 
still  persisted,  and  was  apparently  heard  by  the  audience 
with  favour,  "Justice  Sawrey  (who  was  the  first 
stirrer  up  of  cruel  persecution  in  the  North)  incensed 
them  against  me,  and  set  them  on  to  hale,  beat,  and 
bruise  me."  Fox  was  knocked  down,  kicked,  and 
trampled  upon ;  there  was  a  scene  of  wild  uproar  in 
the  church,  and  some  of  the  congregation  fell  over  the 

1  This  is  George  Fox's  account  of  the  matter. 


AT  LANCASTER  AND  CARLISLE 


83 


forms  in  their  panic-stricken  flight.  At  last  Sawrey 
succeeded  in  getting  Fox  out  of  the  church,  and  given 
in  charge  to  the  constables,  who  were  ordered  to  whip 
him  and  put  him  out  of  the  town.  Some  of  the 
inhabitants  who  seemed  disposed  to  take  his  part  had 
their  heads  broken,  and  the  young  squire  of  Swarth- 
moor,  who  came  running  after  the  constables  to  see 
what  they  would  do  with  his  mother's  guest,  was  thrown 
into  a  ditch  amid  the  cries  of  "  Knock  the  teeth  out  of 
his  head." 

As  for  Fox,  having  been  beaten  till  he  fainted,  he 
lay  for  some  time  in  a  swamp,  with  the  mob  standing 
round  him.  When  his  senses  returned,  he  "  stood  up 
again  in  the  strengthening  power  of  the  Eternal  God  "  ; 
and  stretching  out  his  arms,  said  with  a  loud  voice, 
"  Strike  again ;  here  are  my  arms,  my  head,  and  my 
cheeks."  Hereupon  a  devout  mason  struck  a  blow 
with  all  his  might  with  his  "walking  rule-staff"  on 
the  outstretched  hand  of  the  heretic.  The  blow  was 
so  severe  that  both  Fox  and  the  bystanders  thought  at 
first  he  had  lost  the  use  of  his  hand  for  ever.  "  But  I 
looked  at  it  in  the  love  of  God  (for  I  was  in  the  love  of 
God  to  them  all  that  had  persecuted  me),  and  after  a 
while  the  Lord's  power  sprung  through  me  again,  and 
through  my  hand  and  arm,  so  that  in  a  moment  I 
recovered  strength  in  my  hand  and  arm  in  the  sight  of 
them  all." 

Several  more  scenes  of  the  same  kind  followed,  both 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ulverston,  and  in  the  little 
island  of  Walney,  which  skirts  the  western  coast  of 
Furness.  They  were  all  evidently  part,  a  lawless  part, 
of  the  campaign  which  had  been  commenced  by  the 
Puritan  ministers  and  magistrates  against  Fox  as  a 


84 


GEORGE  EOX 


blasphemer.  The  legal  side  of  the  same  campaign  was 
represented  by  proceedings  taken  to  bring  him  to  trial 
at  the  Quarter  Sessions  at  Lancaster,  in  October  1652. 
A  warrant  was  issued  for  his  apprehension,  but  just  at 
this  time  Judge  Fell,  whose  absence  on  circuit  had 
emboldened  Fox's  enemies  to  persecute  him  as  they 
had  done,  returned  home.  The  warrant  was  not  served, 
and  he,  on  the  other  hand,  issued  warrants  for  the 
apprehension  of  some  of  the  more  atrocious  rioters  in 
the  Isle  of  Walney.  He  was  willing  to  go  further, 
and  asked  Fox  to  give  him  an  account  of  the  whole 
persecution,  but  he  answered,  "  that  those  men  could 
do  no  otherwise  in  the  spirit  in  which  they  were,  and 
that  they  manifested  the  fruits  of  their  priest's  ministry 
and  their  profession  and  religion  to  be  wrong.  So  he 
told  his  wife  that  I  made  light  of  it,  and  that  I  spoke 
of  it  as  a  man  that  had  not  been  concerned  :  for  indeed 
the  Lord's  power  healed  me  again." 

When  the  time  for  the  Quarter  Sessions  had  arrived, 
Fox,  though  the  warrant  had  not  been  served  upon 
him,  determined  to  attend  at  the  court.  The  brave 
and  kindly  Judge  went  with  him,  sorely  perplexed  in 
his  legal  mind  what  line  to  take,  for  he  had  never 
before  had  a  charge  of  blasphemy  brought  before  him. 
Fox  reminded  him  of  the  wise  neutrality  of  Festus,  when 
Paul  was  brought  before  him  on  a  similar  charge,  and 
Judge  Fell  seems  to  have  followed  the  precedent. 
When  they  had  reached  the  Lancaster  Court  House, 
there  were  forty  fervid  ministers,  who  had  "chosen  a 
Lancaster  clergyman,  named  Marshall,  to  be  their  orator," 
and  had  provided  one  young  priest  and  two  young 
priest's  sons  to  bear  witness  against  Fox,  and  who  had 
previously  made  affidavit  that  he  had  spoken  blasphemy. 


AT  LANCASTER  AND  CARLISLE  85 


The  witnesses,  however,  entirely  broke  down,  nor  could 
all  the  help  rendered  them  by  their  orator  Marshall, 
sitting  by  and  explaining  their  sayings  for  them,  save 
their  credit.  Each  one  relied  in  a  helpless  way  on  the 
other,  and  at  length  the  magistrates  were  obliged  to 
reprimand  them  for  having  solemnly  made  affidavit 
that  they  heard  certain  blasphemous  words  which,  as 
it  now  appeared,  they  only  reported  on  hearsay  from 
others. 

On  the  other  side  was  a  considerable  body  of  men 
"  of  integrity  and  reputation  in  the  country,"  who  had 
been  present  at  the  meeting  in  question,  and  who  gave 
evidence  that  the  blasphemous  words  complained  of 
were  never  used.  The  charge  was  evidently  about  to 
fail,  and  one  of  the  magistrates,  Colonel  West,  who 
vigorously  espoused  Fox's  cause,  turned  to  him  and 
said,  "  George,  if  thou  hast  anything  to  say  to  the 
people  thou  mayest  declare  it."  Orator  Marshall  left 
the  building,  and  Lancaster  Court  House  was  turned 
for  the  time  into  a  Quakers'  Meeting-house.  From  the 
tenor  of  the  discourse  which  followed,  it  is  evident 
that  the  charge  of  blasphemy  must  have  chiefly  rested 
on  some  alleged  attack  on  the  authority  of  the  Bible. 
What  Fox  believed  himself  moved  of  the  Lord  to 
declare  was  that  "  the  Holy  Scriptures  were  given  forth 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  that  all  people  must  come  to 
the  same  Spirit,  and  have  Him  dwelling  in  their  hearts : 
since  without  Him  they  could  have  neither  God  nor 
Christ,  nor  the  Scriptures,  nor  have  right  fellowship 
with  one  another."  At  this  six  ministers  who  stood 
behind  him  broke  out  into  a  passion,  and  one  of  them 
named  Jackus  declared  that  the  Spirit  and  the  letter 
[of  the  Scriptures]  were  inseparable.     Fox  replied, 


8G 


GEORGE  FOX 


"  Then  every  one  that  hath  the  letter  hath  the  Spirit, 
and  every  one  who  buys  a  copy  of  the  Bible  buys  the 
Spirit  with  it."  The  falseness  of  the  position  taken  up 
by  the  extreme  Bibliolaters  was  perceived  by  some 
of  the  magistrates,  and  Judge  Fell  and  Colonel  West 
"  reproved  them  openly,  telling  them  that  according 
to  that  position  they  might  carry  the  Spirit  in  their 
pockets  as  they  did  the  Scriptures."  On  this  the  clergy 
all  left  the  Court  House  much  exasperated  against  the 
magistrates,  and  George  Fox  was  discharged. 

On  the  whole  case,  though  we  must  be  cautious  in 
forming  conclusions  from  an  ex  parte  statement,  it 
would  seem  that  the  proceedings  at  Lancaster  resulted 
in  a  triumphant  vindication  of  George  Fox  from  the 
charge  of  blasphemy.  This  seems  proved,  not  only  by 
his  formal  discharge,  but  by  the  fact  that  Colonel  West 
and  Gervase  Benson,  both  magistrates,  Major  Kipan, 
Mayor  of  Lancaster,  and  several  other  men  of  good 
social  position  and  high  religious  character,  dated  their 
"  convincement "  of  the  principles  of  Quakerism  from 
this  day.  It  is  not  necessary  to  accuse  the  forty 
Puritan  ministers  of  having  deliberately  suborned  false 
witnesses  against  their  enemy.  Many  of  them,  like 
Lampitt,  were  sore  at  seeing  their  congregations  drawn 
away  from  them  by  these  new  and  illiterate  preachers. 
There  was  much  in  the  new  style  of  preaching  which 
would  have  seemed  "hard  sayings"  to  any  age,  but 
which  especially  jarred  on  ears  accustomed  to  the  prim, 
pedantic,  text-splitting  style  of  discourse  dear  to  the 
Puritan  lecturer.  In  these  circumstances,  and  with 
their  spirits  all  aflame  with  the  clamour  of  the  multi- 
tude round  them,  it  was  easy  to  misunderstand  the 
somewhat  rhapsodical  utterances  of  Fox,  and  uninten- 


AT  LANCASTER  AND  CARLISLE  87 


tionaUy  to  exaggerate  their  strangeness.  At  any  rate, 
the  opponents  of  the  new  doctrine  were  not  minded 
quietly  to  accept  their  defeat,  which  they  no  doubt 
attributed  to  the  preponderating  influence  of  Judge 
Fell.  It  was  probably  towards  the  end  of  1652,  or  in 
the  early  part  of  1653,  that  there  was  presented  "to 
the  Right  Honourable  the  Council  of  State  "  [sitting 
at  Whitehall]  "  the  humble  petition  of  several  Gentle- 
men, Justices  of  Peace,  Ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and 
People  within  the  County  of  Lancaster."  This  Petition 
averred  as  follows  : — 

"  That  George  Fox  and  James  Nay  lor  are  persons 
disaffected  to  Religion  and  the  wholesome  Laws  of  this 
Nation :  and  that  since  their  coming  into  this  County 
they  have  broached  Opinions  tending  to  the  destruction 
of  the  relation  of  Subjects  to  their  Magistrates,  Wives 
to  their  Husbands,  Children  to  their  Parents,  Servants 
to  their  Masters,  Congregations  to  their  Ministers,  and 
of  a  People  to  their  God.  And  have  drawn  much 
people  after  them :  many  whereof  (men,  women,  and 
little  children)  at  their  meetings  are  strangely  wrought 
upon  in  their  bodies,  and  brought  to  fall,  foam  at  the 
mouth,  roar  and  swell  in  their  bellies.  And  that  some 
of  them  affirmed  themselves  to  be  equal  with  God, 
contrary  to  the  late  Act,  as  hath  been  attested  at  a  late 
Quarter  Sessions  holden  at  Lancaster  in  October  last 
past:  and  since  that  time  acknowledged  before  many 
witnesses ;  besides  many  other  dangerous  Opinions  and 
damnable  Heresies,  as  appears  by  a  Schedule  hereunto 
annexed,  with  the  names  of  the  witnesses  subscribed." 

The  Schedule  is  to  this  effect : — 

"1.  George  professed  and  averred  that  he  was  equal 
with  God. 


88 


GEORGE  FOX 


2.  He  professed  himself  to  be  the  eternal  Judge  of 
the  world. 

3.  He  said  he  was  the  Judge  of  the  world. 

4.  He  said  he  was  the  Christ,  the  Way,  the  Truth, 
and  the  Life. 

5.  He  said,  Whosoever  took  a  place  of  Scripture  and 
made  a  sermon  of  it  and  from  it  was  a  conjurer  and 
his  preaching  conjuration. 

6.  He  said  that  the  Scripture  was  carnal." 

There  were  other  charges  of  a  similar  kind  brought 
against  James  Milner,  Leonard  Fell,  and  Richard 
Hubberthorn,  which  need  not  be  quoted  here,  as  our 
business  is  with  Fox  alone.1 

It  does  not  appear  that  any  action  was  taken  by 
the  Council  of  State  in  reply  to  this  petition,  but  the 
presentation  of  it  led  to  a  curious  reply,  to  which  we 
are  indebted  for  our  knowledge  of  the  petition  itself. 
This  reply  is  entitled  (according  to  the  fashion  of  the 
voluminous  title-pages  of  that  age) — 

1  It  is  curious,  however,  to  note  the  charge  against  Milner. 
"  He  professeth  himself  to  be  God  and  Christ,  and  gives  out 
prophecies. 

"  1.  That  the  day  of  Judgment  shall  be  the  15th  day  of 
November  [?  1653]. 

2.  That  there  shall  never  Judge  sit  at  Lancaster  again. 

3.  That  he  must  ere  long  shake  the  foundations  of  the  great 
Synagogue,  meaning  the  Parliament." 

Milner,  like  Naylor,  was  evidently  in  a  very  excited  state,  and 
broke  away  for  a  time  from  the  fellowship  of  the  Friends. 
George  Fox  says  (Journal,  I.  158),  "About  this  time  [early  in 
1653]  I  was  in  a  fast  for  about  ten  days,  my  spirit  being  greatly 
exercised  on  truth's  account :  for  James  Milner  and  Richard 
Myer  went  out  into  imaginations,  and  a  company  followed  them. 
This  James  Milner  and  some  of  his  company  had  true  openings 
at  first ;  but  getting  into  pride  and  exaltation  of  spirit,  they  ran 
out  from  truth.  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  go  and  show  them 
their  outgoings,  and  they  were  brought  to  see  their  folly,  and 
condemned  it,  and  came  into  the  way  of  truth  again." 


AT  LANCASTER  AND  CARLISLE 


89 


"  Saul's  Errand  to  Damascus  with  his  packet  of 
letters  from  the  High  priests  against  the  disciples  of 
the  Lord,  or  a  faithful  Transcript  of  a  Petition  contrived 
by  some  persons  in  Lancashire  who  call  themselves 
Ministers  of  the  Gospel,  breathing  out  threatenings 
and  slaughters  against  a  peaceable  and  godly  people 
there  by  them  nicknamed  Quakers,  together  with  the 
defence  of  the  persons  thereby  traduced  against  the 
slanderous  and  false  suggestions  of  that  Petition  and 
other  untruths  charged  against  them.  Published  to 
no  other  end  but  to  draw  out  the  bowels  of  tender 
compassion  from  all  that  love  the  poor,  despised 
servants  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  have  been  the  scorn  of 
carnal  men  in  all  ages."  1 

The  pamphlet  begins  thus — 

"  Christian  Reader  : 

"  These  are  to  let  thee  know  that  the  only  wise 
God  at  this  time  hath  so  by  His  providence  ordered  it 
in  the  north  parts  of  Lancashire  that  many  precious 
Christians  (and  so  for  many  years  accounted  before  the 
nickname  Quakers  was  heard  of)  have  for  some  time 
past  forborne  to  concorporate  in  Parochial  Assemblies, 
wherein  they  profess  themselves  to  have  gained  little 
of  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  it  is  and  hath 
been  put  upon  their  hearts  to  meet  often  (and  on  the 
Lord's  Day  constantly)  at  convenient  places  to  seek  the 
Lord  their  Redeemer,  and  to  worship  Him  in  spirit  and 
in  truth,  and  to  speak  of  such  things  (leading  to 
mutual  edification)  as  the  good  spirit  of  the  Lord  shall 

1  Then  follow  verses  10-13  of  chapter  V.  of  Matthew.  "  Lon- 
don :  printed  for  Giles  Calvert  at  the  Black  Spread  Eagle  at 
the  West  End  of  Pauls  1653."  (Press  mark  in  British  Museum, 
E.  *&■) 


90 


GEORGE  FOX 


teach  them,  demeaning  themselves  without  any  offence 
given  to  any  that  truely  fear  the  Lord." 

After  reciting  the  charges  brought  against  Friends 
in  the  Lancashire  petition,  the  authors  of  the  pamphlet 
proceed  to  clear  themselves  from  the  charges  of  dis- 
affection to  the  Government,  and  dissemination  of 
doctrines  destructive  of  family  peace.  As  for  the 
hysterical  symptoms  (as  we  should  call  them)  said  to 
accompany  their  worship,  the  meetings  of  the  People 
of  God  are,  say  they,  ever  strange  to  the  world.  They 
quote  Acts  x.  44,  Daniel  x.  9,  Habakkuk  iii.  16, 
Isaiah  lxvi.  5,  and  Joel  ii.  6,  for  the  manifestation 
of  symptoms  similar  to  those  complained  of  in  the 
petition ;  and  say,  "  The  Prophets  and  Ministers  of  God 
who  had  all  one  spirit,  according  to  measure,  did  all 
encourage  those  that  tremble."  Of  the  specific  charges 
against  Fox,  the  first  four  are  all  replied  to  by  texts 
from  the  New  Testament,  which  speak  of  the  mystical 
union  of  Christ  and  His  followers,  the  saints  judging 
the  world,  and  so  forth.  As  to  the  fifth  charge,  of 
"conjuring  from  Scripture,"  the  pamphlet  replies — 

"  He  that  puts  the  Letter  for  the  Light,  when  the 
Letter  says  that  Christ  is  the  Light,  he  is  blind ;  and 
they  that  say  the  Letter  and  the  Spirit  are  inseparable, 
when  the  Spirit  saith  the  Letter  is  death  and  killeth, 
and  all  that  do  study  to  raise  a  living  thing  out  of  a 
dead,  to  raise  the  Spirit  out  of  the  Letter,  are  conjurers, 
and  draw  points  and  reasons,  and  so  speak  a  divination 
of  their  own  brain :  they  are  conjurers  and  diviners, 
and  their  teaching  is  from  conjuration,  which  is  not 
spoken  from  the  mouth  of  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  is 
against  all  such  ...  for  that  doctrine  doth  not  profit 
at  all,  for  it  stands  not  in  the  counsel  of  God,  but  is  a 


AT  LANCASTER  AND  CARLISLE  91 


doctrine  of  the  devil,  and  draws  people  from  God ;  but 
he  that  speaks  from  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  turns  people 
from  their  wickedness." 

The  answer  to  the  sixth  charge,  "  The  Scripture  is 
carnal,"  goes  on  similar  lines.  "  The  Letter  killeth 
but  the  Spirit  giveth  life.  I  witness  that  which  is 
Eternal  and  not  Carnal.  The  Jews  which  had  the 
Letter  persecuted  Jesus  Christ  the  Substance,  and  so 
do  you  now  which  have  the  Letter  and  not  the  Substance. 
There  were  ministers  of  the  Letter  then,  and  ministers 
of  the  Spirit :  so  are  there  now." 

"All  the  plotting  of  the  Priests  is  and  ever  was 
against  Christ  when  He  is  made  manifest,  and  the 
Beast  shall  make  war  with  the  Saints  and  with  the 
Lamb,  but  the  Lamb  shall  get  the  victory:  praises, 
praises  be  to  our  God  for  ever,  for  ever  more." 

The  reader  who  has  studied  the  history  of  sects  or 
churches  will  know  how  important  it  is  to  listen  to 
what  is  said  by  the  opponents,  as  well  as  by  the 
advocates  of  the  new  doctrine.  Would  that  we 
possessed  anything  like  as  full  a  body  of  polemical 
literature  against  the  early  Christians,  as  that  which 
the  printing  press  has  preserved  for  us,  directed  against 
the  early  Quakers.  It  is  with  this  view  that  I  have 
ventured  to  make  such  copious  extracts  from  Saul's 
Errand  to  Damascus. 

For  some  months  after  Fox's  trial  at  Lancaster,  he 
travelled  about  through  the  north-western  counties, 
Cumberland,  Westmoreland,  North  Lancashire,  making 
Swarthmoor  Hall  his  base  of  operations,  to  which  he 
returned,  and  from  which  he  sent  forth  his  written 
denunciations  against  Lampitt,  Sawrey,  and  others  of 
the  "  magistrates,  priests,  and  professors,"  who  had  taken 


02 


GEORGE  FOX 


part  in  the  persecution  of  the  Friends.  It  must  have 
been  somewhere  about  April  10 1  that  he  was  sitting 
at  Swarthmoor,  listening  to  Judge  Fell  and  Gervase 
Benson  talking  over  politics.  Their  discourse  naturally- 
turned  on  the  Long  Parliament,  or  the  Rump  as  it  was 
irreverently  styled — a  body  of  which  we  must  suppose 
Judge  Fell  to  have  been  still  in  theory  a  member, 
though  we  always  hear  of  him  in  Lancashire,  not  in 
London.  Then  Fox,  who  believed  he  had  an  "opening 
from  the  Lord,"  was  moved  to  tell  them  that  before 
that  day  two  weeks  the  Parliament  should  be  dissolved, 
and  the  Speaker  plucked  out  of  his  chair.  A  fortnight 
passed.  Benson  was  again  at  Swarthmoor,  and  told 
his  friend  that  now  he  saw  George  was  a  true  prophet, 
for  Oliver  had  broken  up  the  Parliament. 

A  characteristic  passage  follows — "  Now  were  great 
threatenings  given  forth  in  Cumberland,  that  if  ever  I 
came  there  again,  they  would  take  away  my  life.  When 
I  heard  it,  I  was  drawn  to  go  into  Cumberland,  and  went 
to  the  same  parish  from  which  those  threatenings  came, 
but  they  had  not  power  to  touch  me."  He  visited  Bootle, 
where  he  sustained  his  usual  violent  treatment  from 
the  mob,  his  wrist  being  nearly  broken  from  one  rough 
fellow's  blow.  In  the  afternoon  he  went  to  the  church, 
where  the  minister,  a  stranger  from  London,  "gathered 
up  all  the  Scriptures  he  could  think  of  that  spoke  of 
false  prophets  and  antichrists  and  deceivers,  and  threw 
them  upon  us;  but  when  he  had  done  I  re-collected 
all  those  Scriptures,  and  brought  them  back  upon  him- 
self.   Then  the  people  fell  upon  me  in  a  rude  manner ; 

1  Cromwell's  dissolution  of  the  Long  Parliament  took  place  on 
April  20.  News  of  that  event  could  hardly  reach  Furness  till 
the  24th.    Dating  back  a  fortnight  we  get  to  April  10. 


AT  LANCASTER  AND  CARLISLE  93 


but  the  constable  charged  them  to  keep  the  peace,  and 
so  made  them  quiet  again.  Then  the  priest  began  to 
rage  and  said  I  must  not  speak  there.  I  told  him  he 
had  his  hour-glass  by  which  he  preached,  and  he  having 
done,  the  time  was  free  for  me  as  well  as  for  him,  for 
he  was  but  a  stranger  there  himself.  So  I  opened  the 
Scriptures  to  them,  and  let  them  see  that  those 
Scriptures  that  spoke  of  the  false  prophets  and  anti- 
christs and  deceivers  described  them  and  their  genera- 
tion, and  not  us,  who  were  not  guilty  of  such  things." 

At  Cockermouth  he  found  a  great  company  of  people 
gathered  together  in  the  churchyard  to  hear  him.  One 
of  his  disciples,  who  had  been  sent  forward  to  prepare 
the  way,  was  speaking  under  a  yew-tree,  which  was  so 
full  of  people  that  Fox  feared  they  would  break  it 
down.  He  looked  about  for  a  place  to  stand  upon  to 
speak  to  the  people,  "  for  they  lay  all  up  and  down 
like  people  at  a  leaguer,"  an  expression  which  suggests 
that  Fox  had  looked  upon  some  of  the  besieging  armies 
during  the  recent  Civil  War.  As  soon  as  Fox  was 
recognized,  he  was  asked  if  he  would  go  into  the 
church,  an  offer  which  he  accepted,  seeing  no  place  in 
the  churchyard  from  which  he  could  conveniently 
address  the  people.  Thereupon  all  the  people  rushed 
in,  filling  the  house  and  even  the  pulpit,  so  that  he 
had  much  ado  to  get  in.  As  soon  as  the  congregation 
was  settled,  he  stood  upon  a  seat,  and  began  a  discourse 
which  lasted  three  hours.  It  will  be  worth  while  to 
read  his  summary  of  this  discourse,  as  from  it  we  may 
infer  the  purport  of  many  similar  ones. 

"  The  Lord  opened  my  mouth  to  declare  His  ever- 
lasting truth  and  His  everlasting  day :  and  to  lay  open 
all  their  teachers,  their  rudiments,  traditions,  and 


94 


GEORGE  FOX 


inventions  that  they  had  been  in,  in  the  night  of 
apostacy  since  the  apostles'  days.  I  turned  them  to 
Christ  the  true  teacher,  and  to  the  true  spiritual 
worship :  directing  them  where  to  find  the  Spirit  and 
truth,  that  they  might  worship  God  therein.  I  opened 
Christ's  parables  unto  them,  and  directed  them  to  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  themselves,  that  would  open  the 
Scriptures  unto  them.  And  I  showed  them  how  all 
might  come  to  know  their  Saviour  and  sit  under  His 
teaching,  might  come  to  be  the  heirs  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  know  both  the  voice  of  God  and  of  Christ, 
by  which  they  might  discover  all  the  false  shepherds 
and  teachers  they  had  been  under,  and  be  gathered  to 
the  true  shepherd,  priest,  bishop,  and  prophet,  Christ 
Jesus,  whom  God  commanded  all  to  hear.  So  when  I 
had  largely  declared  the  word  of  life  unto  them  for 
about  three  hours,  I  walked  from  amongst  the  people, 
and  they  passed  away  very  well  satisfied." 

It  is  evident  that  Fox's  preaching  was  at  this  time  a 
great  power  in  the  north  of  England,  and  that  the  tide 
of  Quakerism  was  rising  high,  especially  in  Cumberland, 
a  county  in  which  it  has  been  calculated  that  something 
like  half  the  population  became  "  Friends."  I  extract 
one  or  two  paragraphs  from  the  Journal,  in  which  he 
describes  the  events  of  this  time. 

"  Amongst  the  rest  a  professor  followed  me,  praising 
and  commending  me,  but  his  words  were  like  a  thistle 
to  me.  At  last  I  turned  about  and  bid  him  fear  the 
Lord,  whereupon  priest  Larkham  of  Cockermouth  (for 
several  priests  were  got  together  on  the  way  who  came 
after  the  meeting  was  over)  said  to  me,  '  Sir,  why  do 
you  judge  so  ?  You  must  not  judge.'  But  I  turned 
to  him  and  said,  'Friend,  dost  not  thou  discern  an 


AT  LANCASTER  AND  CARLISLE 


95 


exhortation  from  a  judgment  ?  I  admonished  him  to 
fear  God  :  and  dost  thou  say  I  judge  him  ? '  So  the 
priest  and  I  falling  into  discourse,  I  manifested  him  to 
be  among  the  false  prophets  and  covetous  hirelings. 
And  several  people  being  moved  to  speak  to  him,  he 
and  two  others  of  the  priests  soon  got  away.  .  .  .  Many 
hundreds  were  convinced  that  day,  and  received  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  His  free  teaching  with  gladness, 
of  whom  some  have  died  in  the  truth,  and  many  stand 
faithful  witnesses  thereof.  The  soldiers  [twelve  soldiers 
and  their  wives  who  had  come  to  Cockermouth  from 
Carlisle]  were  also  convinced,  and  their  wives,  and 
continued  with  me  till  First-day." 

There  was  again  a  similar  meeting  at  the  neighbour- 
ing village  of  Brigham.  "  A  fine  opportunity  the  Lord 
gave  me  to  preach  truth  among  the  people,  for  about 
three  hours,  and  all  was  quiet.  Many  hundreds  were 
convinced :  and  some  of  them  praised  God,  and  said, 
'  Now  we  have  the  first  step  to  peace.'  The  preacher 
also  said  privately  to  some  of  his  hearers  that  I  had 
broken  them  and  overthrown  them." 

Fox  then  passed  on  into  a  neighbouring  village, 
where  he  astonished  the  people  by  speaking  sharply  to 
a  woman  and  telling  her  that  she  was  a  witch,  where- 
upon she  went  out  of  the  room.  "Now  I  being  a 
stranger  there,  and  knowing  nothing  of  the  woman  out- 
wardly, the  people  wondered  at  it,  and  told  me  after- 
wards that  I  had  discovered  a  great  thing,  for  all  the 
country  looked  upon  her  to  be  a  witch." 

"  From  Caldbeck  we  came  to  Carlisle,  and  the  pastor 
of  the  Baptists,  with  most  of  his  hearers,  came  to  me  to 
the  abbey,  where  I  had  a  meeting,  and  many  of  the 
Baptists  and  of  the  soldiers  were  convinced.    After  the 


96 


GEORGE  FOX 


meeting  the  pastor  of  the  Baptists,  a  high  notionist 
and  a  flashy  man,  came  to  me  and  asked  me,  '  What 
must  be  damned  ? '  I  was  moved  immediately  to  tell 
him,  'That  which  spoke  in  him  was  to  be  damned.' 
This  stopped  his  mouth,  and  the  witness  of  God  was 
raised  up  in  him.  I  opened  to  him  the  states  of 
election  and  reprobation,  so  that  he  said  he  never  heard 
the  like  in  his  life.    He  also  came  to  be  convinced." 

Fox  then  went  up  to  the  Castle,  where  the  soldiers, 
assembled  by  beat  of  drum,  heard  him  give  a  discourse 
such  as  that  which  John  the  Baptist  gave  to  the 
soldiers  of  Herod.  Then  to  the  market-cross,  where  in 
spite  of  magistrates  and  magistrates'  wives,  the  latter 
of  whom  had  threatened  that  if  he  came  thither  they 
would  pluck  the  hair  off  his  head,  he  preached  a  sermon 
to  the  people,  telling  them,  "  that  the  day  of  the  Lord 
was  coming  upon  all  their  deceitful  ways  and  doings, 
and  deceitful  merchandize ;  and  that  they  should  put 
away  all  cozening  and  cheating,  and  keep  to  Yea  and 
Nay,  and  speak  the  truth  one  to  another ;  so  the  truth 
and  the  power  of  God  was  set  over  them." 

On  the  next  Sunday,  Fox  went  to  the  church  (prob- 
ably the  cathedral),  and  after  the  minister  had  ended 
his  sermon,  preached  one  of  his  own  which  stirred  the 
enthusiasm  of  some,  and  the  rage  of  others.  There 
was  evidently  a  tumult  in  the  church.  "The  magis- 
trates' wives  were  in  a  rage  and  strove  mightily  to  be 
at  me ;  but  the  soldiers  and  friendly  people  stood  thick 
about  me.  At  length  the  rude  people  of  the  city  rose, 
and  came  with  staves  and  stones  into  the  steeple-house, 
crying,  '  Down  with  these  round-headed  rogues,'  and 
they  threw  stones,  whereupon  the  governor  sent  a  file 
or  two  of  musketeers  into  the  steeple-house  to  appease 


AT  LANCASTER  AND  CARLISLE 


07 


the  tumult,  and  commanded  all  the  other  soldiers  out. 
So  these  soldiers  took  me  by  the  hand  in  a  friendly 
manner,  and  said  they  would  have  me  along  with  them. 
When  we  came  forth  into  the  street,  the  city  was  in  an 
uproar,  and  the  governor  came  down,  and  some  of  those 
soldiers  were  put  in  prison  for  standing  by  me  and  for 
me  against  the  townspeople.  A  lieutenant  that  had 
been  convinced  came  and  brought  me  to  his  house, 
where  there  was  a  Baptists'  meeting,  and  thither  came 
Friends  also,  and  we  had  a  very  quiet  meeting :  they 
heard  the  word  of  life  gladly,  and  many  received  it." 

At  Carlisle,  and  probably  in  some  other  places,  the 
Baptists  appear  to  have  been  more  disposed  to  tolerate 
Fox's  preaching  than  either  of  the  other  two  great 
Puritan  sects.  He  tells  us  expressly  that  the  magis- 
trates who  took  part  in  the  following  proceedings 
against  him,  and  probably  also  the  magistrates'  wives 
who  threatened  to  pluck  the  hair  off  his  head,  were 
Independents  and  Presbyterians. 

On  the  day  after  the  uproar  in  the  church,  these 
magistrates  met  together  in  the  town-hall  and  granted 
a  warrant  for  Fox's  apprehension  on  a  charge  of  blas- 
phemy. He  tells  us  that  many  of  the  rude  people 
had  sworn  strange,  false  things  against  him,  but  gives 
us  no  more  precise  information  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
charge,  and  we  must  therefore  fill  up  the  outline  for 
ourselves  by  analogy  from  the  similar  proceedings  at 
Lancaster. 

Under  the  magistrates'  warrant,  Fox  was  committed 
to  prison  at  Carlisle  "  as  a  blasphemer,  a  heretic,  and 
a  seducer,  though  they  could  not  justly  charge  any  such 
thing  against  me.  The  gaol  at  Carlisle  had  two  gaolers, 
an  upper  and  an  under,  who  looked  like  two  great  bear- 

H 


98 


GEORGE  FOX 


wards.  Now  when  I  was  brought  in,  the  upper  gaoler 
had  me  iuto  a  great  chamber  and  told  me  I  should 
have  what  I  would  in  that  room.  But  I  told  him  he 
should  not  expect  any  money  from  me,  for  I  would 
neither  lie  in  any  of  his  beds  nor  eat  any  of  his  victuals. 
Then  he  put  me  into  another  room,  where  after  a 
while  I  got  something  to  lie  upon.  There  I  lay  till 
the  assizes  came,  and  then  all  the  talk  was  that  I  was 
to  be  hanged.  The  high  sheriff,  whose  name  was  Wilfred 
Lawson,1  stirred  them  much  up  to  take  away  my  life, 
and  said  he  would  guard  me  to  my  execution  himself. 
They  were  in  a  great  rage,  and  set  three  musketeers 
for  a  guard  upon  me,  one  at  my  chamber-door,  another 
at  the  stair's-foot,  and  a  third  at  the  street-door,  and 
they  would  let  none  come  at  me  except  one  sometimes 
to  bring  me  necessary  things.  At  night  they  would  bring 
up  priests  to  me,  sometimes  as  late  as  the  tenth  hour, 
who  were  exceedingly  rude  and  devilish.  There  was  a 
company  of  bitter  Scotch  priests,  Presbyterians,  made 
up  of  envy  and  malice,  who  were  not  fit  to  speak  of  the 
things  of  God,  they  were  so  foul-mouthed;  but  the 
Lord  by  His  power  gave  me  dominion  over  them  all, 
and  I  let  them  see  both  their  feints  and  their  spirits. 
Great  ladies  also  (as  they  were  called)  came  to  see  the 
man  that  they  said  was  to  die.  Now,  while  both  the 
judge,  justices,  and  sheriff  were  contriving  together 
how  they  might  put  me  to  death,  the  Lord  disappointed 
their  design  by  an  unexpected  way,  for  the  judge's 
clerk  (as  I  was  informed)  started  a  question  amoDg 
them  which  confounded  all  their  counsels ;  so  that  after 
that  they  had  not  power  to  call  me  before  the  judge." 

1  A  name  well  known  at  Carlisle  in  the  latter  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century. 


AT  LANCASTER  AND  CARLISLE  99 

It  is  not  very  easy  to  understand  the  course  of  the 
legal  proceedings  in  Fox's  case.  It  is  plain  that  for 
some  reason  the  commitment  on  the  grave  charge  of 
blasphemy,  a  capital  offence  under  the  recent  Act,  was 
bad,  and  that  the  judges  of  assize,  on  that  ground, 
refused  to  try  the  case.  There  must  have  been,  how- 
ever, some  lighter  charge,  probably  that  of  brawling  in 
church,  which  the  local  magistrates  were  compelled  to 
deal  with,  and  on  which  he  was  detained  in  prison 
apparently  for  some  weeks.  His  friend  and  convert, 
Anthony  Pearson,  who  was  himself  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Judges  of  Assize  complaining 
that  neither  he  nor  Fox  could  get  a  sight  of  the  infor- 
mation preferred  against  him.  "  This  is  very  hard ; 
and  that  he  should  be  so  closely  restrained  that  his 
friends  may  not  speak  with  him,  I  know  no  law  nor 
reason  for.  I  do  therefore  claim  for  him  a  due  and 
lawful  hearing,  and  that  he  may  have  a  copy  of  his 
charge,  and  freedom  to  answer  for  himself ;  and  that 
rather  before  you  than  to  be  left  to  the  rulers  of  this 
town,  who  are  not  competent  judges  of  blasphemy,  as 
by  their  mittimus  appears :  who  have  committed  him 
upon  an  Act  of  Parliament,  and  mention  words  as 
spoken  by  him  at  this  examination  which  are  not 
within  the  Act,  and  which  he  utterly  denies.  The 
words  mentioned  in  the  mittimus  he  denies  to  have 
spoken,  and  hath  neither  professed  nor  avowed 
them." 

Notwithstanding  this  letter,  Fox  says,  the  judges 
were  resolved  not  to  suffer  him  to  be  brought  before 
them  (that  is,  probably  they  decided  that  they  had  no 
power  to  try  the  case),  but,  reviling  and  scoffing  at  him 
behind  his  back,  left  him  to  the  magistrates  of  the 


100 


GEORGE  FOX 


town,  giving  them  what  encouragement  they  could  to 
exercise  their  cruelty  upon  him. 

Whatever  the  precise  form  may  have  been,  which 
was  taken  by  the  legal  process  against  him,  the  result 
is  certain.  Fox  was  kept  for  a  considerable  time  in  the 
dungeon  of  Carlisle,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  bad 
specimen  even  of  the  foul  English  prisons  of  that  age. 
The  sanitary  arrangements  were  detestable,  vermin 
swarmed,  and  men  and  women  were  crowded  together 
with  little  regard  for  decency.  After  the  many  attempts 
of  poets  and  ballad-writers  to  glorify  the  "  bold  moss- 
trooping  Scot,"  it  is  startling  to  hear  the  moss-troopers 
classed  with  thieves  and  murderers,  among  the  worst 
occupants  of  the  dungeon.  The  sight  of  these  men 
so  impressed  Fox,  that  in  a  letter  which  he  wrote  from 
the  dungeon  to  two  magistrates  who  were  especially 
busy  in  punishing  Friends  for  the  non-payment  of 
tithes,  he  says  that  the  priests  behaved  "  more  like 
moss-ti'oopers  than  ministers  of  the  gospel."  The 
gaoler  was  very  cruel,  and  the  under-gaoler  used,  with 
a  great  cudgel,  to  beat  the  Friends  who  came  to  the 
grating  of  the  window  to  converse  with  their  suffering 
teacher,  or  Fox  himself,  when  he  carried  his  food  to  the 
grating,  and  tried  to  take  his  meal  in  a  less  pestilential 
air  than  he  usually  breathed.  "  One  time,"  says  Fox, 
"he  came  in  a  great  rage  and  beat  me  with  a  great 
cudgel,  though  I  was  not  at  the  grate  at  that  time,  and 
as  he  beat  me,  he  cried,  '  Come  out  of  the  window,' 
though  I  was  then  far  enough  from  it.  While  he  struck 
me,  I  was  made  to  sing  in  the  Lord's  power,  and  that 
made  him  rage  the  more.  Then  he  fetched  a  fiddler, 
and  brought  him  in  where  I  was,  and  set  him  to  play, 
thinking  to  vex  me  thereby ;  but  while  he  played,  I 


AT  LANCASTER  AND  CARLISLE 


101 


was  moved  in  the  everlasting  power  of  the  Lord  to 
sing,  and  my  voice  drowned  the  noise  of  the  riddle,  and 
struck  and  confounded  them,  and  made  them  give  over 
fiddling  and  go  their  way." 

While  Fox  was  still  in  this  dungeon,  the  rumour 
that  there  was  a  young  man  in  Carlisle  gaol  about  to 
die  for  religion  reached  Westminster,  where  the  Little 
Parliament,  or  to  quote  its  more  opprobrious  name, 
the  "  Barebones "  Parliament,  was  then  sitting.  This 
assembly,  which  was  one  of  the  most  revolutionary  in 
matters  ecclesiastical  that  the  country  has  ever  seen, 
decided  to  interfere,  and  prevent  so  great  a  scandal ; 
and  sent  a  letter  to  the  sheriff  and  magistrates  of 
Carlisle,  probably  recommending  caution  and  clemency. 
As  we  have  seen,  the  prosecution  on  the  capital  charge 
had  already  broken  down,  but  the  letter  from  the  High 
Court  of  Parliament  probably  assisted  the  earnest  en- 
deavours of  the  Quaker  magistrates  Pearson  and  Benson 
for  the  release  of  their  wrongfully  accused  friend.  Fox 
was  liberated,  and  Anthony  Pearson,  bringing  the  abuses 
of  the  prison  under  the  notice  of  the  "  governor,"  obtained 
a  vote  of  censure  on  the  magistrates  for  allowing  such 
barbarities  to  be  committed.  The  other  gaolers  were 
required  to  find  sureties  for  their  good  behaviour,  and 
the  exceptionally  cruel  under-gaoler,  who  had  beaten 
Fox  with  the  cudgel,  was  himself  confined  in  the 
dungeon  "  amongst  the  moss-troopers." 


CHAPTER  VIII 


AT  FENNY  DRAYTON  AND  WHITEHALL 

1654.  After  Fox  was  liberated  from  his  imprison- 
ment at  Carlisle,  he  travelled  through  Yorkshire  and 
Lincolnshire,  meeting  with  his  usual  strangely  varied 
tissue  of  adventures.  In  one  place  a  company  of 
butchers,  who  had  sworn  that  they  would  have  his  blood, 
came  to  an  open-air  meeting,  and  stood  yelling  as  if  it 
had  been  a  bear-garden.  But  their  threats  of  bodily 
injury  came  to  nothing,  and  when  asked  by  their 
neighbours  why  they  had  not  killed  him  according  to 
their  oath,  they  could  only  answer  that  he  had  so 
bewitched  them  that  they  could  not  do  it.  Un- 
doubtedly there  was  something  in  the  very  appearance 
of  this  tall,  grave,  fearless  man  which  laid  a  very  power- 
ful spell  on  meaner  spirits.  When  he  was  at  Carlisle,  a 
Baptist  deacon,  "  an  envious  man,"  says  Fox,  finding  the 
Lord's  power  was  over  them,  cried  out  for  ver}'  anger. 
"  Whereupon  I  set  my  eyes  upon  him,  and  spoke  sharply 
to  him  in  the  power  of  the  Lord  :  and  he  cried,  '  Do  not 
pierce  me  so  with  thy  eyes  :  keep  thy  eyes  off  me.' " 

In  Lincolnshire  he  held  a  meeting  at  which  the 
sheriff  of  the  county,  Robert  Craven,  was  present.  He 
came  with  a  large  party  of  his  friends  to  argue  and 
denounce,  but  he  was  struck  by  the  power  of  Fox's 

102 


AT  FENNY  DEAYTON  AND  WHITEHALL  103 


preaching,  became  "  convinced  of  the  truth,"  and  joined 
the  new  Society.  So  did  "she  who  was  called  the 
Lady  Montague,"  Sir  Richard  Wrey,  and  some  other 
members  of  the  county  aristocracy. 

He  passed  on  into  his  native  county  of  Leicester,  and 
had  a  great  meeting,  to  which  came  many  "  Baptists, 
Ranters,  and  other  professors,  who  were  very  rude  and 
stirred  up  the  rude  people  against  us."  "  We  sent  to  the 
Ranters  to  come  forth  and  try  their  God.  Abundance 
of  them  came,  who  were  very  rude,  and  sang  and 
whistled  and  danced :  but  the  Lord's  power  so  con- 
founded them  that  many  of  them  came  to  be  convinced." 

And  now  at  length,  after  an  absence  of  three  years, 
George  Fox  returned  to  his  native  place,  in  order  to 
visit  his  relations.  Not  much  family  intercourse,  how- 
ever, seems  to  have  been  the  result  of  this  visit  to 
Fenny  Drayton.  At  once  his  old  antagonist,  "Priest 
Stephens,"  having  obtained  the  help  of  another  clergy- 
man, challenged  Fox  to  a  discussion,  the  report  of 
which  brought  the  whole  countryside  together.  Fox 
was  for  carrying  on  the  discussion  in  the  churchyard  ; 
the  two  clergymen  insisted  on  his  coming  into  the 
church,  averring  that  "  Mr.  Stephens  could  not  bear 
the  cold."  In  the  end  the  dispute  was  settled  by  their 
adjourning  to  "  a  great  hall,"  doubtless  the  old  manor- 
house  of  the  Purefoys.  The  discussion  turned  that 
day  on  the  right  of  the  clergy  to  tithes,  evidently  a 
favourite  subject  with  Stephens,  and  one  upon  which, 
four  years  later,  he  wrote  a  ponderous  treatise.  The 
debate  ran  on  the  well-known  lines.  Stephens  no 
doubt  pleaded  the  Mosaic  ordinance ;  Fox  appealed  to 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  in  proof  that  the  tithe- 
receiving  priesthood  was  ended  by  Christ.    There  was 


104 


GEORGE  FOX 


some  disturbance  among  the  audience,  whom  the  two 
clergymen,  according  to  Fox,  "  stirred  up  to  be  vain 
and  rude."  At  last  Stephens  said,  "  Neighbours,  this 
is  the  business :  George  Fox  is  come  to  the  light  of 
the  sun,  and  now  he  thinks  to  put  out  my  starlight." 
Fox  answered,  "  I  would  not  quench  the  least  measure 
of  God  in  any,  much  less  put  out  his  starlight,  if  it  were 
true  starlight,  light  from  the  morning  star.  But  I  told 
him  if  he  had  anything  from  Christ  or  God,  he  ought  to 
speak  it  freely,  and  not  take  tithes  from  the  people  for 
preaching,  seeing  Christ  commanded  His  ministers  to 
give  freely  as  they  had  received  freely.  So  I  charged 
him  to  preach  no  more  for  tithes  or  any  hire."  The 
disturbance  among  the  audience  increased,  and  the  con- 
ference broke  up,  George  Fox  informing  them  that  he 
intended  to  be  in  the  town  on  that  day  week. 

The  week  was  spent  in  meetings  in  the  surrounding 
country,  and  when  it  was  over,  Stephens,  who  under- 
stood Fox's  words  as  fixing  an  adjournment  of  the  debate, 
had  given  notice  at  a  neighbouring  market,  that  on  such 
a  day  there  would  be  a  debate  between  him  and  the 
Quakers.  Seven  clergymen  had  come  to  help  him, 
and  several  hundreds  of  people  were  assembled  to  hear 
the  discussion.  Fox,  though  he  did  not  consider  him- 
self pledged  to  a  resumption  of  the  debate,  had  with 
him  a  former  clergyman  named  Taylor,  the  young 
Quaker  preacher  James  Parnell,  and  several  other 
Friends.  He  again  refused  to  go  into  the  church,  but 
apparently  went  to  the  top  of  a  little  mound  in  the 
churchyard,  and  from  thence  spoke  to  the  people.  The 
crowd  again  became  disorderly,  and  the  conference  was 
broken  up  into  a  number  of  little  knots  of  people,  in  the 
centre  of  each  of  which  were  to  be  found  a  clergyman 


AT  FENNY  DRAYTON  AND  WHITEHALL  105 


and  a  Friend  disputing.  At  last  one  of  the  clergymen 
brought  his  son  to  debate  with  Fox,  but  the  young  man, 
getting  the  worst  of  the  argument,  called  on  his  father 
for  help,  and  called  in  vain.  Tired  and  thirsty  with  the 
long,  vain  wrangle,  the  eight  clergymen  at  length 
adjourned  to  the  parsonage  for  a  drink,  while  Fox 
shouted  after  them  that  he  had  never  beaten  so  many 
priests  in  argument  before.  At  that  some  of  the  clergy 
and  their  wives  came  round  him,  patted  him  on  the 
back,  and  said  "  fawningly,"  "  What  might  he  not  have 
been,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  Quakers." 

While  the  clergy  were  in  the  parsonage,  the  yokels 
began  their  horseplay.  Several  lusty  fellows  took  Fox 
up  in  their  arms,  and  bore  him  into  the  church  porch, 
intending  to  carry  him  into  the  church  by  force,  but  as 
the  door  was  locked,  they  fell  down  in  a  heap,  having 
him  below  them.  He  crept  out  from  under  them,  and 
went  back  to  his  vantage  ground  of  the  mound ;  he 
was  carried  thence,  however,  and  placed  on  a  footstool 
under  the  wall  of  the  church.  By  this  time  the  clergy 
had  returned  from  the  parsonage,  and  called  out, "  Come, 
to  argument,  to  argument."  Fox  began  his  argument 
by  declaring  that  they  were  not  true  shepherds,  but 
hirelings,  such  as  Christ  spoke  of  in  the  tenth  chapter 
of  John.  On  this  he  was  knocked  off  his  perch,  while 
the  eight  clergymen  stood  each  on  his  footstool  under 
the  church  wall.  Now  thoroughly  aroused,  Fox  de- 
clared that  he  "  denied  "  those  eight  priests  or  teachers 
that  stood  before  him,  and  all  the  hireling  teachers  of 
the  world  whatsoever;  and  then  out  of  his  retentive 
memory  he  thundered  forth  the  long  roll  of  passages 
from  the  Prophets,  in  which  woe  is  denounced  on  the 
false  prophets,  and  from  the  Gospels,  in  which  Christ 


106 


GEORGE  FOX 


denounced  a  similar  woe  on  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees. 
Then  he  went  on  to  speak  of  his  favourite  theme,  the 
light  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  heart,  till  at  length  one  of 
the  audience  cried  out,  "  George,  wilt  thou  never  have 
done  ? "  He  answered  that  he  would  have  done  shortly, 
and  when  he  had  soon  made  an  end,  clergy  and  people 
all  stood  silent  for  a  time,  till  at  last  oue  of  the  clergy- 
men said  that  they  would  read  the  Scriptures  he  had 
quoted.  They  began  to  read  aloud  the  twenty-third 
of  Jeremiah,  but  Fox  broke  out  into  fresh  objurgations, 
and  the  meeting  at  last  seems  to  have  broken  up  in 
confusion.  At  the  end  of  it  Stephens  came,  and 
desired  Fox  with  his  father  and  brother  to  come  aside 
and  speak  with  him  in  private.  For  some  unexplained 
reason  Fox  was  very  reluctant  to  do  so,  but  the  people 
cried,  "  Go,  George ;  do,  George,  go  aside  with  him ; " 
and  as  Fox's  father  added  his  entreaties  he  went,  not 
wishing  to  seem  disobedient  to  his  parents. 

The  object  of  the  private  interview  was  that  Stephens 
might  say,  "  Pray  for  me  if  I  am  out  of  the  way,  and  I 
will  pray  for  you  if  you  are  out  of  the  way.  I  will 
give  you  a  form  of  words  for  the  purpose."  The  good 
man,  earnest  if  somewhat  narrow,  seems  to  have  been 
really  anxious  to  find  some  common  spiritual  standing 
ground  with  the  young  enthusiast,  his  parishioner. 
We  read  with  regret  Fox's  utterly  unsympathetic  and 
self-confident  answer,  "  It  seems  thou  dost  not  know 
whether  thou  art  in  the  right  way  or  not;  but  I  know 
that  I  am  in  the  everlasting  way,  Christ  Jesus,  which 
thou  art  out  of."  And  then  he  raised  a  laugh  against 
Stephens  by  pointing  out  that  he  who  objected  to  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer  was  himself  proposing  to  give 
him  a  form  of  prayer,  and  so  they  parted,  Fox  announc- 


AT  FENNY  DRAYTON  AND  WHITEHALL  107 


ing  that  he  intended  to  be  in  the  town  again  that 
day  week.  "  So  the  priests  packed  away,  and  many 
people  were  convinced ;  for  the  Lord's  power  came  over 
all.  Though  they  thought  to  have  confounded  truth 
that  day,  many  were  convinced  of  it,  and  many  that 
were  convinced  before  were  by  that  day's  work  con- 
firmed in  the  truth,  and  abode  in  it;  and  a  great  shake 
it  gave  to  the  priests.  My  father,  though  he  was  a 
hearer  and  follower  of  the  priest,  was  so  well  satisfied, 
that  he  struck  his  cane  upon  the  ground  and  said, 
'  Truly  I  see  he  that  will  but  stand  to  the  truth,  it  will 
carry  him  out.' "  This  is,  I  believe,  the  last  mention 
that  we  have  of  "Righteous  Christer,"  who  evidently 
did  not  join  the  Society  founded  by  his  son,  but  who 
remained  staunch  in  his  persuasion  of  the  truth  and 
trustworthiness  of  his  son's  "  Verily." 

The  third  confei'ence  at  Fenny  Drayton,  a  meeting 
"  at  my  relations'  house,"  seems  to  have  been  a  failure. 
Some  soldiers  were  brought  thither  by  the  clergy,  to 
take  down  the  names  of  the  attenders,  and  to  arrest 
such  as  should  not  obey  their  command  to  disperse 
and  go  home.  When  Fox's  name  was  taken,  his 
relatives  answered  naturally  enough,  that  as  he  was 
at  home  already  he  could  not  go  home ;  and  thus  the 
clumsy  device  (if  it  were  ever  really  entertained)  for 
compassing  Fox's  imprisonment  came  to  nought. 

Soon,  however,  Fox  was  arrested  and  temporarily 
imprisoned  on  an  entirely  different  charge  from  that 
which  Stephens  and  his  brother  ministers  would  have 
preferred  against  him.  In  the  course  of  his  journeyings 
he  came  to  Whetstone  in  Leicestershire,  and  there  he 
was  about  to  hold  a  meeting  which  seems  to  have  been 
a  kind  of  conference  for  the  Friends  of  all  the  surround- 


108 


GEORGE  FOX 


ing  district.1  To  this  meeting  came  about  seventeen 
troopers  of  Colonel  Hacker's  regiment,  some  of  the 
very  men  probably  who  five  years  before  had  stood 
round  the  scaffold  at  Whitehall,  interposing  between 
the  executioner  of  Charles  I.  and  the  crowd  of  London 
citizens  who  thronged  the  street,  murmuring  at  the 
bloody  deed.2  The  troopers  stopped  the  meeting,  and 
were  about  to  arrest  all  the  attenders,  but  George  Fox 
undertook  to  be  answerable  for  the  others,  and  while 
arresting  him  they  took  his  word  for  the  appearance 
of  his  friends.  With  one  companion,  Alexander  Parker 
of  Bolton,  Fox  was  taken  into  the  presence  of  Colonel 
Hacker,  who  sat  surrounded  by  his  major  and  captains. 
The  time  was  an  unusually  critical  one — it  was  appar- 
ently the  summer  of  1654.  Oliver  Cromwell  had  been 
for  about  half-a-year  Lord  Protector  of  the  Common- 
wealth, and  Gerard  and  Vowel's  plot,  the  first  of  many 
for  his  assassination,  had  either  just  been  discovered, 
or  was  known  to  be  in  agitation.3  Colonel  Hacker  and 
his  troopers  had  got  it  into  their  heads  that  this  con- 
ference of  Friends  at  Whetstone,  apparently  so  harmless 
and  peaceable,  covered  a  design  either  to  assassinate 
Cromwell,  or  to  bring  in  Charles  II.4  The  conversation 
which  the  Colonel  held  with  the  accused  failed  alto- 

1  "  For  there  were  several  Friends  come  from  various  parts " 
(I.  207). 

2  The  death-warrant  of  Charles  I.  proves  that  Colonel  Hacker 
and  one  of  his  associates  in  this  work  were  only  delegated  to  the 
office  of  superintending  the  execution  after  at  least  two  other 
officers  had  refused  it.    (Gardiner,  iv.  309.) 

3  "  At  this  time  there  was  a  rumour  of  a  plot  against  Oliver 
Cromwell "  (I.  207). 

*  "I  told  them  I  had  been  formerly  sent  up  a  prisoner  by 
Colonel  Hacker  from  Leicester  to  London,  under  pretence  that  I 
held  meetings  to  plot  to  bring  in  King  Charles  "  (I.  534). 


AT  FENNY  DRAYTON  AND  WHITEHALL  109 


gether  to  remove  this  impression.  "Much  reasoning," 
says  Fox,  "  I  had  with  them  about  the  light  of  Christ 
which  enlighteneth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world.  Colonel  Hacker  asked  whether  it  was  not  this 
light  of  Christ  that  made  Judas  betray  his  Master,  and 
afterwards  led  him  to  hang  himself.  I  told  him,  'No; 
that  was  the  spirit  of  darkness,  which  hated  Christ  and 
His  Light.'  Then  Colonel  Hacker  said  I  might  go 
home  and  keep  there,  and  not  go  abroad  to  meetings. 
I  told  him,  '  I  was  an  innocent  man  free  from  plots, 
and  denied  [disapproved  of]  all  such  work.'  His  son 
Needham  said,  'Father,  this  man  hath  reigned  too 
long ;  it  is  time  to  have  him  cut  off.'  I  asked  him, 
'For  what?  What  had  I  done?  or  whom  had  I 
wronged  from  a  child  ?  for  I  was  bred  and  born  in 
that  country,  and  who  could  accuse  me  of  any  evil 
from  a  child  ? ' "  However,  on  his  persistent  refusal 
to  promise  not  to  attend  any  more  meetings,  it  was 
decided  that  Fox  should  be  sent  up  to  London  to  the 
Lord  Protector,  under  the  care  of  Captain  Drury,  one 
of  his  life-guards. 

In  the  early  morning  before  he  departed,  Fox  sought 
an  interview  with  Colonel  Hacker,  and  was  accordingly 
admitted  into  his  bedroom.  The  Colonel  again  tried 
to  persuade  him  to  promise  to  hold  no  more  meetings, 
but  he  might  as  well  have  asked  him  to  promise  not 
to  eat  or  to  breathe.  "  Then,"  said  Hacker,  "  you  must 
go  before  the  Protector."  With  that  Fox  kneeled  down 
by  his  bedside,  and  besought  the  Lord  to  forgive  him, 
for  he  was  as  Pilate,  though  he  should  wash  his  hands ; 
and  when  the  day  of  his  misery  and  trial  should  come 
upon  him,  he  was  then  to  remember  what  Fox  had  now 
communicated  to  him.    There  came  a  day  six  years 


110 


GEORGE  FOX 


after,  when  Hacker  bitterly  remembered  these  words 
of  his  prisoner. 

Often  as  Fox  was  asked  on  the  journey,  if  he  would 
not  go  quietly  home  and  hold  no  more  meetings,  he 
always  returned  the  same  sturdy  negative.  At  length 
he  and  his  escort  reached  London,  and  he  was  lodged 
in  the  "Mermaid  Inn"1  "over  against  the  Mews  at 
Charing  Cross."  Captain  Drury  then  went  to  the 
Protector  to  report  the  arrival  of  his  prisoner,  and 
returned  with  the  demand  which  has  been  already 
described,  that  Fox  should  give  a  written  promise 
not  to  take  up  the  sword  against  the  then  existing 
Government. 

The  Protector,  when  he  received  the  paper  contain- 
ing Fox's  declaration  against  all  war,  desired  to  see 
the  writer,  of  whom  doubtless  he  had  often  heard  by 
the  reports  of  his  major-generals.  After  some  time 
Captain  Drury  brought  Fox  to  the  palace  at  White- 
hall. He  found  the  Protector  in  his  bedroom,  half- 
dressed,  being  waited  upon  by  a  valet  named  Harvey, 
who  had  himself  for  a  short  time  joined  the  new  Society 
of  Friends.  On  entering,  Fox  uttered  in  his  deep  and 
thrilling  voice  his  usual  salutation,  "  Peace  be  to  this 
house,"  and  then  he  proceeded  to  exhort  the  great 
Protector  to  keep  in  the  fear  of  God,  that  he  might 
be  directed  by  the  Divine  wisdom,  and  order  all  things 
under  his  hand  to  God's  glory.  Much  conversation  on 
religious  subjects  followed,  and  in  it  Oliver  evidently 
showed  a  capacity  for  understanding  the  spiritual  side 

1  Not  of  course  the  Mermaid  which  was  made  famous  by  the 
colloquies  of  Shakespeare  and  Ben  Jonson.  That  was  in  Bread 
Street,  Cheapside.  It  might  be  worth  inquiry  why  the  Mermaid 
at  this  time  was  so  popular  as  an  inn  sign. 


AT  FENNY  DRAYTON  AND  WHITEHALL  111 


of  Christianity  which  surprised  his  visitor.1  "  Only," 
said  he,  "you  are  too  fond  quarrelling  with  the 
ministers."  This  charge,  of  course,  Fox  repelled,  de- 
claring in  his  usual  manner  that  he  only  followed  the 
example  of  prophets  aud  apostles  in  denouncing  "  the 
false  prophets  who  preached  for  filthy  lucre,  and  divined 
for  money,  and  who  were  covetous  and  greedy,  and 
could  never  have  enough."  While  Fox  spoke,  Crom- 
well said  several  times,  "It  is  very  good:  it  is  the 
truth."  The  conversation  then  turned  on  the  Scrip- 
tures, which  Fox  was  accused  of  esteeming  too  lightly. 
His  answer  was,  "  All  Christendom  (so  called)  possesses 
the  Scriptures,  but  lacks  the  power  and  spirit  of  the 
men  who  gave  forth  the  Scriptures;  and  this  is  the 
reason  why  Christians  are  not  in  fellowship  with  the 
Son,  nor  with  the  Father,  nor  with  the  Scriptures,  nor 
with  one  another." 

Much  more  passed  between  these  two  men,  each  in 
his  different  way  such  a  notable  product  of  seventeenth- 
century  England.  Then  the  crowd  of  courtiers  began 
to  flock  into  the  great  man's  lev6e,  and  Fox  turned  to 
go.  As  he  turned,  Cromwell  caught  him  by  the  hand, 
and  with  tears  in  his  eyes  said,  "  Come  again  to  my 
house,  for  if  thou  and  I  were  but  an  hour  a  day  to- 
gether, we  should  be  nearer  one  to  the  other.  I  wish 
no  more  ill  to  thee  than  to  my  own  soul."  Said  Fox, 
"If  thou  didst,  thou  wouldest  wrong  thy  own  soul. 
Only  hearken  to  God's  voice,  stand  in  His  counsel  and 
obey  it ;  and  that  will  keep  thy  heart  from  the  hard- 
ness which  will  otherwise  overtake  it."  Cromwell 
answered,  "  It  is  true."    Fox  left  the  presence-chamber, 

1  "  Much  discourse  I  had  with  him  about  religion,  wherein  he 
carried  himself  very  moderately." 


112 


GEORGE  FOX 


followed  by  Drury,  who  told  him  it  was  the  Lord  Pro- 
tector's decision  that  he  should  be  set  at  liberty,  and 
might  go  whither  he  would.  Then  he  was  brought 
into  a  great  hall  (was  it  the  Banqueting  Chamber  of 
Inigo  Jones?),  where  the  gentlemen  of  the  new  court 
were  to  dine  together;  but  as  soon  as  Fox  learned  that 
he  was  brought  there  that  he  might  join  them  in  the 
repast,  he  stiffly  refused,  sending  a  message  to  the 
Protector  that  he  would  not  eat  of  his  bread  nor  drink 
of  his  drink.  "  Now,"  said  Cromwell,  on  receiving  this 
message,  "I  see  there  is  a  people  risen  up  that  I  can- 
not win  with  gifts,  honours,  offices  or  places;  but  all 
other  sects  and  people  I  can."  "  It  is  not  likely,"  said 
Fox  in  reply,  ''that  we  who  have  forsaken  all  that  we 
had,  should  look  for  such  favours  from  him." 

This  was  not  Fox's  last  visit  to  Whitehall,  though  it 
was  for  the  time  his  last  interview  with  the  Protector. 
He  returned  to  the  "Mermaid  Inn,"  now  a  free  man, 
and  went  thence  into  the  city,  where  he  had  many 
"  great  and  powerful  meetings,"  attended  by  such  dense 
throngs  of  people  that  he  found  it  difficult  to  make  his 
way  into  and  out  of  the  place  of  assembly.  It  is 
probably  to  this  date  that  we  must  refer  the  practical 
foundation  of  the  Quaker  church  in  the  capital  city. 

But  after  a  time  he  went  to  Whitehall  again,  and 
was  "  moved  to  declare  the  day  of  the  Lord  among  them, 
and  that  the  Lord  was  come  to  teach  His  people  Him- 
self." The  officers  of  the  New  Model  army  and  the 
gentlemen  of  the  Protector's  household  seem  to  have 
heard  him  for  a  time  with  patience,  and  some  of  them 
with  more  than  patience,  for  "  there  was  a  great  con- 
vincement  in  the  Protector's  house  and  family " ;  but 
no  further  opportunity  of  access  to  the  Protector  was 


AT  FENNY  DRAYTON  AND  WHITEHALL  113 


afforded  him,  owing,  as  he  says,  to  the  rudeness  of  the 
officers.  Probably  the  real  reason  was  the  press  of 
State  business,  which  would  not  admit  of  Cromwell's 
listening  to  the  lengthy  discourses  of  his  visitor,  how- 
ever in  his  heart  he  might  be  convinced  of  his  earnest- 
ness and  spiritual  insight. 

During  these  visits  to  Whitehall,  George  Fox  had 
a  curious  encounter  with  one  of  Cromwell's  chaplains, 
or,  to  use  his  own  description,  "  one  of  several  priests 
whom  Oliver  had  about  him.  This  was  his  news- 
monger, an  envious  priest,  and  a  light,  scornful,  chaffy 
man."  Would  that  Fox  had  given  us  some  clearer 
indication  which  of  the  well-known  chaplains  of  the 
Protector  was  labelled  by  him  in  this  contemptuous 
fashion.  When  Fox  met  this  man,  something  in  his 
conversation  seems  to  have  aroused  his  suspicions,  and 
he  bade  him  repent,  an  exhortation  which  so  moved 
the  chaplain's  wrath  that  he  inserted  in  his  newspaper 
next  week  the  following  item  of  news — "  George  Fox 
the  Quaker  has  been  to  Whitehall,  and  bid  a  godly 
minister  there  to  repent."  Certainly  the  minister, 
whether  godly  or  not,  seems  to  have  been  a  purveyor 
of  extremely  trivial  gossip,  and  one  marvels  that  Fox 
should  have  thought  it  worth  while  to  bandy  words 
with  him.  The  chaplain  stated  in  his  newspaper  that 
Fox  wore  silver  buttons,  "  which  was  false,  for  they 
were  but  alchemy."  He  also  said  that  Fox  "hung 
ribands  on  people's  arms,  which  made  them  follow  him," 
— the  suggestion  probably  being  that  there  was  some 
kind  of  enchantment  in  these  ribands.  There  was  a 
great  deal  of  discussion  backwards  and  forwards  as  to 
the  originator  of  this  idle  tale ;  and  the  chaplain 
promised  to  insert  George  Fox's  contradiction  in  his 

i 


114 


GEORGE  FOX 


newspaper,  but  failed  to  keep  his  promise.  From  the 
following  sentence  it  appears  that  now,  in  the  day  of 
Cromwell's  uncontrolled  power,  it  was  the  Independents, 
rather  than  the  Friends'  old  adversaries,  the  Presby- 
terians, who  were  taking  the  lead  in  the  repression  of 
Quakerism.  "  These  priests,  the  newsmongers,  were 
of  the  Independent  sect,  like  those  of  Leicester;  but 
the  Lord's  power  came  over  all  their  lies,  and  swept 
them  away ;  and  many  came  to  see  the  naughtiness  of 
these  priests." 

It  was  probably  on  account  of  the  attitude  thus 
assumed  by  the  Independent  clergy  that  Cromwell, 
though  himself  earnest  for  toleration,  permitted  the 
persecution  of  Quakers  to  be  carried  on  so  fiercely, 
that  about  three  thousand  of  their  number  were  im- 
prisoned on  one  pretence  or  other  between  1648  and 
1660,  and  that  thirty-two  actually  died  in  prison,  "in 
the  time  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  of  Oliver  and 
Richard  the  Protectors." 


CHAPTER  IX 


LAUNCESTON  GAOL 

After  the  account  of  Fox's  visit  to  the  Protector 
at  Whitehall,  he  inserts  in  his  Journal  copies  of  several 
"  papers  "  which  he  felt  himself  called  upon  to  write  to 
various  "sorts  and  conditions  of  men";  "to  all  pro- 
fessors of  Christianity  " ;  "to  such  as  follow  the  world's 
fashions " ;  "to  the  Pope  and  all  kings  and  rulers  in 
Europe  " ;  "  to  the  Triers  "  (a  body  of  men  appointed  by 
Cromwell  to  examine  the  holders  of  benefices) ;  "  to 
those  that  made  a  scorn  of  trembling  and  quaking"; 
"  to  churches  gathered  into  outward  forms  upon  the 
earth " ;  to  the  Protector,  as  to  the  trouble  brought 
upon  Friends  by  the  new  oath  of  abjuration,  and  to 
Friends  themselves,  exhorting  them  to  be  patient  under 
the  new  persecution  that  was  coming  upon  them. 
This  last  letter  begins  with  the  question,  "  Who  is 
moved  by  the  power  of  the  Lord  to  offer  himself  to 
justice  for  his  brother  or  sister  that  lies  in  prison,  and 
to  go  lie  there  in  their  stead,  that  his  brother  or  sister 
may  come  out  of  prison,  and  so  offer  his  life  for  his 

brother  or  sister  ? "  "  As  Christ  hath  laid  down  His 

life  for  you,  so  lay  down  your  lives  for  one  another.  Here 
you  may  go  over  the  heads  of  the  persecutors  and  reach 
the  witness  of  God  in  all." 

115 


116 


GEORGE  FOX 


The  time  was  at  hand  when  Fox  himself  was  again 
to  endure  imprisonment,  one  of  the  longest  and  most 
terrible  of  all  that  he  had  to  undergo. 

I  pass  rapidly  over  his  journeyings  in  the  eastern 
and  midland  counties  in  the  year  1655 ;  his  discussion 
at  Reading  with  the  Ranters,  "  who  pleaded  that  God 
made  the  Devil "  ;  his  sufferings  from  "  the  scholars  at 
Cambridge,"  who  pulled  his  companion  off  his  horse, 
and  "were  so  rude  in  the  courts  and  in  the  streets, 
that  miners,  colliers,  and  carters  could  never  be  ruder, 
raging  as  much  against  the  man  who  denounced  the 
trade  of  preaching,  which  they  were  there  as  apprentices 
to  learn,  as  ever  Diana's  craftsmen  did  against  Paul." 
Then  came  one  more  visit  to  his  native  place,  Fenny 
Drayton,  where  not  a  priest  or  "  professor  "  appeared  of 
all  the  great  company  that  had  been  gathered  together 
against  him.  He  asked  the  reason,  and  was  told  that 
the  priest  of  the  neighbouring  Nuneaton  was  dead, 
and  that  eight  or  nine  of  them  were  seeking  to  get 
his  benefice,  flocking  to  the  spoil  as  carrion  crows  to  a 
sheep's  carcase.  At  Evesham  a  pair  of  high  stocks 1 
had  been  prepared  expressly  for  him,  but  he  would  not 
turn  aside  from  his  course,  and  seems  to  have  passed 
through  the  town  without  being  confined  in  them. 
At  Tewkesbury,  the  "  priest "  came  with  a  great  rabble 
of  rude  people  to  disturb  his  meeting,  and  when  Fox 
"  turned  the  people  to  the  Divine  Light  which  Christ, 
the  heavenly  and  spiritual  Man,  enlightened  them 
withal,  the  priest  began  to  rage  against  the  Light  and 
denied  it,  for  neither  priest  nor  professor  could  endure 
to  hear  the  Light  spoken  of."  At  Warwick,  he  appealed 

1  In  the  MS.  Journal  they  are  thus  described,  "a  pair  of 
stocks,  a  yard  and  a  half  high,  with  a  trap-door  to  come  to  it." 


LAUNCESTON  GAOL 


117 


in  vain  to  the  Protector's  "  Instrument  of  Government, 
in  which  liberty  of  conscience  was  granted."  Notwith- 
standing this,  the  rude  multitude,  encouraged,  or  at 
least  not  hindered  by  "  the  bailiff  of  the  town,"  stoned 
him,  and  tried  to  unhorse  him.  He  and  his  companions 
had  got  clear  of  the  town,  when  he  told  his  friends 
that  "  it  was  upon  him  from  the  Lord  to  go  back  into 
it  again ;  if  any  of  them  felt  anything  upon  him  from 
the  Lord,  he  might  follow  him,  and  the  rest  that  did 
not  might  go  on  to  "  the  next  halting-place.  One  man, 
John  Crook,  turned  and  followed  the  dauntless  preacher, 
who  "  passed  up  through  the  market  in  the  dreadful 
power  of  God,  declaring  the  word  of  life  unto  the 
people,  and  showing  them  their  unworthiness  of  the 
name  of  Christians."  "  Some  struck  at  me,"  he  says, 
"  but  the  Lord's  power  was  over  them,  and  gave  me 
dominion  over  all." 

These  journeys  in  the  Midlands  having  been  ended, 
and  London  again  visited,  Fox  prepared  to  break 
entirely  new  ground  by  a  visit  to  the  western  counties 
of  England,  in  which  apparently  there  had  hitherto 
been  no  Quaker-preaching  of  any  importance. 

Through  Sussex  and  Hampshire  he  journeyed  into 
Dorsetshire,  having  for  his  companion  Edward  Pyot  of 
Bristol,  and  at  Dorchester  he  went  to  an  inn  which 
happened  to  be  kept  by  a  Baptist.  He  sent  to  ask 
the  Baptists  of  the  town  for  leave  to  invite  "  the  sober 
people  "  to  a  meeting  in  their  chapel,  but  they  refused, 
and  accordingly  an  invitation  was  sent  to  them  and  all 
who  feared  God  to  visit  the  Quaker  missionaries  at 
the  inn.  "  They  were  in  a  great  rage,  and  their  teacher 
and  many  of  them  came  up  and  slapped  their  Bibles 
on  the  table.    I  asked  them  why  they  were  so  angry  j 


118 


GEORGE  FOX 


were  they  angry  with  the  Bible  ?  But  they  fell  into 
a  discourse  about  their  water-baptism."  Fox  asked 
them  if  they  could  claim  the  same  power  which  the 
apostles  had  to  convey  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  by 
the  administration  of  baptism,  and  on  their  modestly 
disclaiming  this  power,  proceeded  by  a  series  of  Socratic 
questions  to  draw  the  conclusion,  that  as  they  had  not 
the  Divine  power  which  was  bestowed  on  the  apostles, 
they  were  baptizing  in  the  power  of  the  Evil  One. 
Naturally  the  Baptists  were  much  exasperated,  and 
shook  off  the  dust  of  their  feet  against  the  two  Quakers, 
but  many  of  the  substantial  citizens  seem  to  have  joined 
them.  At  Weymouth,  the  result  of  a  large  assembly 
which  lasted  for  several  hours  was  the  establishment 
of  a  regular  meeting  of  Quakers  in  that  town,  partly 
formed  out  of  converted  Banters,  "  who  came  to  own 
the  truth  and  to  live  very  soberly."  At  the  same 
place  Fox  made  another  convert,  whose  name  is  not 
disclosed,  but  whose  disposition  is  amusingly  portrayed 
in  the  following  paragraph  : — 

"  There  was  a  captain  of  horse  in  the  town,  who  sent 
to  me,  and  would  fain  have  had  me  to  stay  longer ; 
but  I  was  not  to  stay.  He  and  his  man  rode  out  of 
town  with  me  about  seven  miles,  Edward  Pyot  also 
being  with  me.  This  captain  was  the  fattest,  merriest 
man,  the  most  cheerful  and  the  most  given  to  laughter 
that  ever  I  met  with ;  insomuch  that  I  was  several 
times  moved  to  speak  in  the  dreadful  power  of  the 
Lord  to  him ;  and  yet  it  was  become  so  customary  to 
him  that  he  would  presently  laugh  at  anything  he 
saw.  But  I  still  admonished  him  to  come  to  sobriety, 
sincerity,  and  the  fear  of  the  Lord.  We  staid  at  an 
inn  that  night,  and  in  the  morning  I  was  moved  to 


LAUNCESTON  GAOL 


119 


speak  to  him  again  when  he  parted  from  us.  Next 
time  I  saw  him  he  told  me,  that  when  I  spoke  to  him 
at  parting,  the  power  of  the  Lord  so  struck  him,  that 
before  he  got  home  he  was  serious  enough,  and  had 
discontinued  his  laughing.  He  afterwards  was  con- 
vinced, and  became  a  serious  and  good  man,  and  died 
in  the  truth." 

At  Kingsbridge,  as  there  were  many  people  drinking 
in  the  inn  where  the  travellers  lodged,  Fox  went  in 
amongst  them  and  preached  them  a  sermon  on  the 
inward  Light.  Some  probably  were  impressed  and 
some  amused  by  the  unexpected  utterance;  but  one 
effect  it  had  upon  all — it  stopped  the  consumption 
of  liquor.  "  The  innkeeper  stood  uneasy,  seeing  it 
hindered  his  guests  from  drinking;  and  as  soon  as 
the  last  words  were  out  of  my  mouth,  he  snatched 
up  the  candle  and  said,  '  Come,  here  is  a  light  for  you 
to  go  into  your  chamber.'  Next  morning,  when  he 
was  cool,  I  represented  to  him  what  an  uncivil  thing 
it  was  for  him  to  do  so :  then  warning  him  of  the  day 
of  the  Lord,  we  got  ready  and  passed  away." 

At  Plymouth  they  held  a  meeting  in  the  house  of 
one  of  the  numerous  Carys  of  Devonshire.  A  certain 
Elizabeth  Trelawney,  daughter  of  the  Trelawney  baronet 
of  the  day,  was  there,  and,  being  somewhat  deaf,  sat 
near  to  George  Fox.  The  sermon  thus  intently  listened 
to  produced  its  usual  effect.  She  was  "  convinced,"  and 
when  some  "jangling  Baptists"  came  into  the  room 
after  the  meeting  was  over,  she  bore  witness  to  her  new 
conviction  of  the  Truth.  At  Plymouth,  as  at  many  of 
the  other  places  which  have  been  named,  the  meetings 
of  the  Friends,  which  were  established  at  the  time  of 
Fox's  visit,  still  exist  after  the  lapse  of  240  years. 


120 


GEORGE  FOX 


Fox  now  crossed  over  into  Cornwall,  but  his  visit 
to  that  county,  though  it  resulted  in  one  of  the  longest 
and  most  severe  of  his  imprisonments,  did  not  produce 
anything  like  so  large  a  crop  of  conversions  to  Quakerism 
as  rewarded  his  visits  to  Lancashire  and  Cumberland. 
He  himself  accounts  for  this  in  some  measure  by  saying 
that  he  "could  not  obtain  knowledge  of  any  sober 
people,  through  the  badness  of  the  innkeepers."  This 
remark  helps  us  to  understand  his  usual  mode  of 
procedure  on  arriving  at  a  strange  place,  which  was 
apparently  to  go  to  an  inn  kept  by  a  Puritan  landlord, 
and  use  his  host's  local  knowledge  in  order  to  gather 
together  an  audience  of  "  sober,"  that  is  spiritually- 
minded  people.  Why  this  mode  of  procedure  failed 
him  in  Cornwall  can  be  readily  understood  from  the 
history  of  the  Civil  War.  The  westernmost  county  of 
England,  in  which  there  is  now,  under  the  influence 
of  John  Wesley  and  his  successors,  so  strong  a  Non- 
conformist element,  was  in  the  seventeenth  century 
enthusiastic  for  Church  and  King.  Pendennis  Castle 
was  one  of  the  last  strongholds  on  which  the  royal 
banner  was  kept  flying.  Cornishmen,  with  their  brother 
Britons  the  Welshmen,  still  stood  by  Charles  Stuart 
when  all  Saxon  England  disowned  him,  and  popular 
legends  still  tell  of  a  certain  battle  or  skirmish  which 
was  fought  near  Falmouth  after  the  Civil  War  over  all 
the  rest  of  England  was  ended,  and  before  the  news  of 
the  pacification  had  reached  that  remote  district.1  In 
such  an  episcopally-minded  and  Royalist  county  the 

1  This  skirmish  took  place  on  a  little  grassy  plain  which  yet 
bears  the  name  of  "Fine  and  Brave,"  and  according  to  local 
tradition  headless  Cavaliers  and  Roundheads  are  believed  still 
to  be  seen  galloping  over  it  in  the  moonlight. 


LAUNCESTON  GAOL 


121 


new  teaching,  which  required  a  Puritan  nidus  to  work  in, 
even  while  opposing  Puritan  dogmas,  had  little  chance 
of  success,  and  though  a  few  meetings  were  established, 
there  was  no  general  ingathering  to  Quakerism. 

There  was,  however,  a  determination  on  the  part  of 
the  authorities  of  the  county  to  keep  it  clear  of  the 
new  sect,  and  when  Fox  reached  Marazion  (which  seems 
at  that  time  to  have  had  a  corporation  of  its  own),  the 
Mayor  and  Aldermen  of  the  little  town,  acting  in 
conjunction  with  the  Sheriff  of  the  county,  sent  the 
constables  to  summon  Fox  and  Pyot  before  them.  No 
warrant  for  their  apprehension  had  been  issued,  and 
when  Fox  asked  the  constables  to  produce  their  warrant, 
one  of  them  pulled  out  his  mace  from  under  his  cloak, 
and  said  that  was  his  warrant.  However,  no  arrest 
was  made.  Pyot  went  unconstrained  to  the  Mayor 
and  Aldermen  of  Marazion,  and  preached  them  a 
sermon,  to  which  they  seem  to  have  listened  with 
attention. 

Possibly  the  three  Friends  (one  W.  Salt  of  London 
now  accompanied  Fox  and  Pyot)  might  have  ridden  back 
again  through  the  county  without  molestation,  but  for 
the  zeal  of  a  county  magistrate  and  major  in  the  army, 
named  Peter  Ceely  of  St.  Ives.  According  to  a  frequent 
practice  of  his,  Fox  had  written  a  short  address,  to 
be  sent  to  the  seven  parishes  at  the  Land's  End. 
There  was  nothing  in  this  address  which  any  Christian 
man  could  possibly  object  to.  It  merely  set  forth  in 
language  unusually  simple  and  clear  Fox's  great  pro- 
position, "  Every  one  of  you  hath  a  light  from  Christ, 
which  lets  you  see  you  should  not  lie,  nor  do  wrong  to 
any,  nor  swear,  nor  curse,  nor  take  God's  name  in  vain, 
nor  steal."    But  a  copy  of  the  paper  was  handed  to  a 


122 


GEORGE  FOX 


mounted  traveller  whom  the  party  met  about  three 
miles  from  Marazion,  who  proved  to  be  a  servant  of  this 
Major  Ceely's.  Riding  forward,  he  delivered  it  to  his 
master  at  St.  Ives,  where  the  Friends  were  delayed  for 
a  time,  Pyot's  horse  having  cast  a  shoe.  While  the 
horse  was  being  shod,  Fox  walked  down  to  the  shore, 
and  looked  forth  upon  the  Bristol  Channel.  When  he 
returned  to  his  friends,  he  found  all  the  little  town  in 
an  uproar,  and  a  rude  mob  dragging  off  Pyot  and  Salt 
before  Major  Ceely.  "  I  followed  them,"  says  Fox, 
"  into  the  justice's  house,  though  they  did  not  lay  hands 
upon  me.  When  we  came  in,  the  house  was  full  of 
rude  people;  whereupon  I  asked  whether  there  were  not 
an  officer  among  them  to  keep  the  people  civil.  Major 
Ceely  said  he  was  a  magistrate.  I  told  him  '  he  should 
show  forth  gravity  and  sobriety  then,  and  use  his 
authority  to  keep  people  civil :  for  I  never  saw  any 
people  ruder :  the  Indians  were  more  like  Christians 
than  they.'  After  a  while,  they  brought  forth  the 
paper  aforesaid,  and  asked  whether  I  would  own  it. 
I  said  '  Yes.'  Then  he  tendered  the  oath  of  abjuration 
to  us,  whereupon  I  put  my  hand  in  my  pocket  and 
drew  forth  the  answer  to  it,  which  had  been  given  to 
the  Protector.  After  I  had  given  him  that,  he  ex- 
amined us  severally,  one  by  one.  He  had  with  him 
a  silly  young  priest,  who  asked  us  many  frivolous 
questions,  and  amongst  the  rest  he  desired  to  cut  my 
hair,  which  then  was  pretty  long :  but  I  was  not 1  to 
cut  it,  though  many  times  many  were  offended  at  it. 
I  told  them,  '  I  had  no  pride  in  it,  and  it  was  not  of 
my  own  putting  on.' 2    At  length  the  justice  put  us 

1  i.  e.  "  I  did  not  think  it  my  duty  to  cut  it." 

?  Sewel,  the  historian  of  Quakerism,  remarks  on  this — "  It 


LAUNCESTON  GAOL 


123 


under  a  guard  of  soldiers,  who  were  hard  and  wild,  like 
the  justice  himself;  nevertheless  we  warned  the  people 
of  the  day  of  the  Lord,  and  declared  the  truth  to  them. 
The  next  day  he  sent  us,  guarded  by  a  party  of  horse, 
with  swords  and  pistols,  to  Redruth." 

From  Redruth  next  day,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  it  was  Sunday,  the  soldiers  insisted  on  their 
travelling  forward  a  stage.  They  had  preached  to  the 
people  in  the  morning  amidst  howls  of  rage ;  it  was 
already  afternoon  of  the  short  January  day,  and  the 
party  had  ten  miles  to  ride.  But  Fox  had,  as  he 
believed,  a  message  from  the  Lord,  and  insisted  on 
delivering  it.  "  When  we  were  got  to  the  town's  end 
I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  go  back  again  to  speak  to 
the  old  man  of  the  house ;  the  soldiers  drew  out  their 
pistols  and  swore  I  should  not  go  back.  I  heeded  them 
not,  but  rode  back,  and  they  rode  after  me.  I  cleared 
myself  [delivered  my  message]  to  the  old  man  and  the 
people,  and  then  returned  with  them  and  reproved 
them  for  being  so  rude  and  violent. 

"At  night  we  were  brought  to  a  town  called  Smethick 
then,  but  since  Falmouth.  It  being  the  evening  of 
the  First-day  [Sunday],  there  came  to  our  inn  the  chief 
constable  of  the  place  and  many  sober  people,  some 
of  whom  began  to  inquire  concerning  us.  We  told 
them  we  were  prisoners  for  truth's  sake,  and  much 


happened  also  at  other  times  that  because  of  his  long  hair  he 
was  spoken  to,  as  I  have  seen  myself ;  but  of  this  I  am  fully 
persuaded,  that  he  had  not  the  least  pride  in  it  ;  but  it  seems  to 
me  not  improbable  that  he,  seeing  some  would  make  it  a  kind  of 
holiness  to  wear  short  hair,  did  the  contrary  to  show  that  in  some 
things  there  was  a  Christian  liberty,  for  which  we  ought  not 
to  judge  one  another,"  An  interesting  comment  on  the  name 
"  Koundheads." 


124 


GEORGE  FOX 


discourse  we  had  with  them  concerning  the  things  of 
God.  They  were  very  sober  and  loving  to  us.  Some 
were  convinced  and  stood  faithful  ever  after." 

The  captaiu  of  the  little  party  of  soldiers  who  were 
escorting  the  Friends  was  apparently  a  rough  and 
lawless  man  named  Keat.  They  believed  that  it  was 
only  the  bolting  of  their  door  which  prevented  him 
from  making  some  attack  upon  them  during  the  night. 
In  this  they  may  have  been  mistaken,  but  it  was 
certain  that  next  day  a  kinsman  of  Keat's,  "  a  rude, 
wicked  man,"  was  brought  by  him  into  their  room, 
while  he  himself  stood  outside.  "  This  evil-minded 
man  walking  huffing  up  and  down  the  room,  I  bade 
him  fear  the  Lord  ;  whereupon  he  ran  upon  me,  struck 
me  with  both  his  hands,  and  placing  his  leg  behind  me, 
would  fain  have  thrown  me  down,  but  he  could  not, 
for  I  stood  stiff  and  still  and  let  him  strike.  As  I 
looked  towards  the  door,  I  saw  Captain  Keat  look  on 
and  see  his  kinsman  thus  beat  and  abuse  me.  Where- 
upon I  said,  '  Keat,  dost  thou  allow  this  ? '  and  he  said 
he  did.  '  Is  this  manly  or  civil,'  said  I,  '  to  have  us 
under  a  guard  and  put  a  man  to  abuse  and  beat  us  ? 
Is  this  manly  or  civil  or  Christian  ? ' " 

The  constables  were  sent  for,  the  magistrate's  warrant 
was  examined  and  proved  to  be  an  order  to  conduct  the 
prisoners  safely  to  Captain  Fox,  governor  of  Pendennis 
Castle,  or,  if  he  should  not  be  at  home,  to  convey  them 
to  Launceston  Gaol.  The  chief  constable  strongly 
remonstrated  against  the  rude  and  violent  conduct  of 
the  soldiers,  and  his  remonstrances  were  backed  by  the 
officers  of  the  garrison  of  Pendennis.  As  the  governor 
was  gone  to  Bodmin  to  meet  Major  Desborough,  it  was 
decided  that  the  Friends  must  be  sent  to  Launceston, 


LAUNCESTON  GAOL 


125 


but  the  chief  constable  at  first  positively  refused  to  give 
them  in  charge  to  their  rough  bullying  escort.  "  If  it  cost 
twenty  shillings  in  charges  to  carry  us  up,  they  should 
not  have  the  warrant  again.  I  showed  the  soldiers  the 
baseness  of  their  carriage  towards  us ;  and  they  walked 
up  and  down  the  house,  being  pitifully  blank  and  down." 
Eventually,  on  the  soldiers'  entreaty  and  promise  to  be 
more  civil  to  their  prisoners,  the  warrant  was  given 
back  to  them,  and  the  party  started  for  Launceston. 
On  the  road  they  met  General  Desborough,  Crom- 
well's brother-in-law,  and  one  of  the  major-generals, 
the  satraps  through  whom,  for  a  year  and  a  half,1  the 
Protector  administered  the  government  of  England. 
Desborough's  satrapy  included  the  six  western  counties 
from  Gloucestershire  to  Land's  End,  and  the  com- 
prehensive powers  of  himself  and  his  fellows  gave  them 
jurisdiction  over  religion  and  morals,  as  well  as  over 
more  purely  political  questions.2  The  great  man  was 
apparently  journeying  westward,  when  the  little  troop 
of  Fox's  escort  met  him.  The  captain  of  the  troop 
that  rode  before  him  recognized  Fox — he  had  perhaps 
made  his  acquaintance  during  the  preacher's  visit  to 
Whitehall — and  said,  "  Oh,  Mr.  Fox,  what  do  you  here  ? " 
Fox  replied,  "  I  am  a  prisoner."  "  Alack,"  said  the 
captain,  "  for  what  ? "  Fox  told  him  he  had  been 
arrested  while  he  was  travelling  on  his  religious  errand. 
"  Then,"  said  he,  "  I  will  speak  to  my  lord,  and  he  will 

1  From  June  1655  to  February  1657.  The  proceedings  which 
we  are  now  considering  took  place  in  January  1656. 

2  In  the  interesting  article  on  "  Cromwell's  Major-Generals  "  in 
the  Ewjlislt  Historical  Review  (x.  492),  it  is  stated  that  Major- 
General  Butler  fined  a  certain  Mr.  Barton  ,£6  for  saying  "  God 
damn  me,"  and  protested  that  it  should  have  been  £10,  if  the 
culprit's  horse  would  have  fetched  as  much. 


126 


GEORGE  FOX 


set  you  at  liberty."  He  rode  up  to  "  my  lord's "  coach 
and  explained  the  case  to  Desborough.  Possibly  if  Fox 
could  have  left  the  matter  in  the  captain's  hands  he 
might  have  had  his  liberty,  but  when  he  himself  began 
to  tell  the  story  of  his  wrongs,  and  touched  upon  his 
doctrine,  Desborough  "began  to  speak  against  the 
Light  of  Christ,  for  which,"  says  Fox,  "  I  reproved 
him.  Then  he  told  the  soldiers  they  might  carry  us  to 
Launceston ;  for  he  could  not  stay  to  talk  with  us,  lest 
his  horses  should  take  cold." 

At  Bodmin,  Captain  Keat  put  Fox  into  a  room  where 
stood  a  man  with  a  naked  rapier  in  his  hand,  and  when 
the  captive  remonstrated,  answered,  "  0  pray  hold  your 
tongue,  for  if  you  speak  to  this  man  we  cannot  all  rule 
him,  he  is  so  devilish ; "  in  other  words,  the  man  with 
the  rapier  was  a  dangerous  lunatic.  Naturally  Fox 
complained  that  such  an  apology  did  not  mend  matters, 
and  he  at  length  succeeded  in  getting  another  room. 
"In  the  evening  we  declared  the  truth  to  the  people, 
but  they  were  hardened  and  dark  people.  The  soldiers 
also,  notwithstanding  their  fair  promises,  were  very  rude 
and  wicked  to  us  again,  and  sat  up  drinking  and  roar- 
ing all  night."  It  occurs  to  one  that  these  roysterers 
can  hardly  have  been  the  precise,  sanctimonious  soldiers 
of  Cromwell's  New  Model  army;  possibly  both  they 
and  their  captain  may  have  been  some  of  the  disbanded 
Cavalier  troops  taken  into  the  service  of  the  Common- 
wealth. 

Next  day  the  prisoners  were  brought  to  Launceston 
and  handed  over  to  the  care  of  the  gaoler.  Thus  began 
one  of  the  longest  and  most  terrible  of  Fox's  many  im- 
prisonments, which  lasted  nearly  eight  months,  from 
the  22nd  of  January  to  the  13th  of  September  1656. 


LAUNCESTON  GAOL 


127 


For  nine  weeks  which  intervened  between  the 
commitment  of  the  Friends  to  prison  and  their  trial 
at  the  Assizes  they  appear  to  have  been  fairly  treated, 
matters  being  smoothed  by  their  each  paying  the 
gaoler  seven  shillings  a  week  for  their  board,  and 
seven  shillings  for  the  keep  of  their  horses.  Their 
peculiar  usage  of  addressing  all  persons  with  "  Thou  " 
and  "Thee,"  and  their  scruple  about  the  removal 
of  the  hat  were,  however,  the  subject  of  general  remark, 
and  there  were  many  speculations  how  this  behaviour 
would  be  tolerated  by  the  great  judge  who  would 
come  down  from  London  to  try  them  at  the  Assizes. 
The  general  expectation  seems  to  have  been  that  he 
would  at  once  order  them  to  be  hung. 

At  length,  somewhere  about  the  22nd  of  March, 
the  Assizes  were  held,  and  the  long-expected  judge 
took  his  seat  on  the  bench.  He  proved  to  be  Chief 
Justice  Glyn,  a  man  who,  though  not  a  Jefferies  or 
a  Scroggs,  has  earned  for  himself  a  somewhat  un- 
favourable reputation  as  a  time-server,  and  a  politician 
too  keenly  intent  on  selfish  ends;  a  patriot  in  1640, 
a  noisy  Presbyterian  in  1646,  a  Cromwellian  under 
the  Protectorate,  and  a  Koyalist  as  soon  as  General 
Monk  began  to  move  for  the  Restoration  of  the  Stuart 
dynasty.  In  this  trial,  however,  he  does  not  appear 
to  have  done  anything  unfitting  to  his  high  position. 

The  little  town  of  Launceston  was  crowded  with  the 
country  folks,  who  had  come  from  far  and  near  to 
gaze  upon  these  strange  beings  who  were  going  to  defy 
the  great  Chief  Justice;  and  the  soldiers  and  javelin- 
men  who  guarded  them  had  some  difficulty  in  making 
a  way  for  them  through  the  crowd.  At  length,  how- 
ever, they  pushed  their  way  in,  and  the  judge,  lifting 


128 


GEORGE  FOX 


up  his  eyes,  saw  a  group  of  austere,  plainly  clad  men 
standing  in  the  dock,  with  their  broad  hats  overshadow- 
ing their  faces,  pale  with  nine  weeks  of  prison  air. 
But  the  scene  must  be  described  in  Fox's  own  words. 

"  When  we  were  brought  into  the  court,  we  stood 
some  time  with  our  hats  on,  and  all  was  quiet,  and 
I  was  moved  to  say,  '  Peace  be  amongst  you  ! '  Judge 
Glyn,  a  Welshman,  then  Chief  Justice  of  England, 
said  to  the  gaoler,  '  What  be  these  you  have  brought 
here  into  the  court  ? '  '  Prisoners,  my  Lord ! '  said  he. 
'  Why  do  you  not  put  off  your  hats  ? '  said  the  judge 
to  us.  We  said  nothing.  '  Put  off  your  hats,'  said  the 
judge  again.  Still  we  said  nothing.  Then  said  the 
judge,  '  The  court  commands  you  to  put  off  your  hats.' 
Then  I  spoke  and  said,  '  When  did  ever  any  magistrate, 
king,  or  judge,  from  Moses  to  Daniel,  command  any  to 
put  off  their  hats  when  they  came  before  them  in  their 
courts,  either  amongst  the  Jews,  the  people  of  God,  or 
amongst  the  heathen  ?x  and  if  the  law  of  England 
doth  command  any  such  thing,  show  me  that  law, 
either  written  or  printed.'  Then  the  judge  grew  very 
angry  and  said,  '  I  do  not  carry  my  law  books  on  my 
back.'  '  But,'  said  I,  '  tell  me  where  it  is  printed  in  any 
statute  book,  that  I  may  read  it.'  Then  said  the  judge, 
'  Take  him  away,  prevaricator !  I'll  ferk  him.'  So 
they  took  us  away  and  put  us  among  the  thieves. 
Presently  after  he  calls  to  the  gaoler,  '  Bring  them  up 
again.'    '  Come,'  said  he,  1  when  had  they  hats  from 

1  A  quaint  little  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  Fox,  who 
was  accused  of  undervaluing  the  Scripture,  had  absorbed  it  into 
the  very  tissue  of  his  mind;  so  that  for  him  the  proceedings  of 
an  English  Court  of  Justice  in  the  seventeenth  century  were 
to  be  modelled  on  the  customs  of  an  Oriental  people  two 
thousand  years  before  that  date. 


LAUNCESTON  GAOL 


129 


Moses  to  Daniel  ?  Come,  answer  me.  I  have  you  fast 
now,'  said  he.  I  replied,  '  Thou  mayest  read  in  the 
third  of  Daniel  that  the  three  children  were  cast  into 
the  fiery  furnace  by  Nebuchadnezzar's  command,  with 
their  coats,  their  hose,  and  their  hats  on.' 1  This 
plain  instance  stopped  him,  so  that,  not  having  any- 
thing else  to  say  to  the  point,  he  cried  again,  '  Take 
them  away,  gaoler.'" 

In  the  afternoon  the  prisoners  were  again  brought 
up,  and  after  there  had  been  some  discussion  about 
a  "  paper  against  swearing,"  which  Fox,  shocked  at 
the  proceedings  of  the  court,  had  handed  to  the  grand 
and  petty  juries,  and  which  the  judge  pronounced  to 
be  of  a  seditious  character,  the  old  question  of  the 
hats  came  up  again.  "  Then  they  let  fall  that  subject ; 
and  the  judge  fell  upon  us  about  our  hats  again, 
bidding  the  gaoler  take  them  off,  which  he  did,  and 
gave  them  to  us ;  and  we  put  them  on  again.  Then 
we  asked  the  judge  and  the  justices  what  we  had 
lain  in  prison  for  these  nine  weeks,  seeing  they  now 
objected  nothing  to  us  but  about  our  hats ;  and  as 
for  putting  off  our  hats,  I  told  them  that  was  the 
honour  which  God  would  lay  in  the  dust,  though 
they  made  so  much  to  do  about  it :  the  honour  which 
is  of  men,  and  which  men  seek  one  of  another,  and 
is  the  mark  of  unbelievers.  .  .  Then  the  judge  began 
to  make  a  great  speech,  how  he  represented  the  Lord 

1  Curiously  enough,  the  word  here  translated  "  hats "  (Car- 
balathon)  is  now  believed  to  be  more  properly  translated 
"  mantles."  It  is  strange  that  Fox,  with  his  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Bible,  should  not  have  perceived  the  real  point 
at  issue  between  oriental  and  occidental  customs,  that  among 
the  Jews,  as  with  so  many  other  Eastern  nations,  it  was  not  by 
uncovering  the  head,  but  by  "  loosing  the  shoes  from  off  the 
feet,"  that  reverence  was  shown  to  a  superior  power. 

K 


130 


GEORGE  FOX 


Protector's  person,  who  had  made  him  Lord  Chief 
Justice  of  England,  and  sent  him  to  come  that  circuit," 
and  so  forth. 

Some  modus  vivendi  as  to  the  hat  question  must  have 
been  obtained  between  the  court  and  the  prisoners,  for 
we  next  find  Fox  pointing  out  the  errors  in  his  indict- 
ment, and  insisting  on  the  production  of  the  mittimus 
under  which  he  had  been  committed  to  prison.  This 
had  been  given  forth  by  Major  Ceely  of  St.  Ives,  the 
fussy  magistrate  to  whose  servant  Fox's  letter  to  the 
seven  Land's  End  parishes  had  been  handed.  This 
Major  Ceely  must,  one  would  think,  have  been  either 
insane,  or  an  outrageous  liar ;  for  he  now,  sitting  beside 
the  Chief  Justice,  said  to  him — "  May  it  please  you, 
my  lord,  this  man  [pointing  to  Fox]  went  aside  with 
me,  and  told  me  how  serviceable  I  might  be  for  his 
design ;  that  he  could  raise  40,000  men  at  an  hour's 
warning,  and  involve  the  nation  in  blood,  and  so  bring 
in  King  Charles."  It  was  not  difficult  to  prove  the 
falsity  of  such  a  preposterous  accusation  as  this,  and, 
as  Fox  says,  "the  judge  saw  clearly  that  instead  of 
ensnaring  me,  he  had  ensnared  himself."  Not  satisfied, 
however,  with  this  rebuff,  Major  Ceely  rose  again  and 
said — "If  it  please  you,  my  lord,  to  hear  me:  this  man 
struck  me,  and  gave  me  such  a  blow  as  I  never  had  in 
my  life."  Challenged  by  Fox  to  say  where  and  when, 
he  answered  that  it  was  in  the  Castle  green,  and  that 
Captain  Bradden  was  standing  by  and  saw  the  blow. 
Bradden,  however,  seems  to  have  shown  by  a  shrug  of 
his  shoulders  his  opinion  of  the  absurdity  of  the  charge, 
and  the  judge,  who  evidently  saw  that  Ceely  was  a 
witness  on  whose  evidence  no  reliance  could  be  placed, 
went  no  further  into  the  matter.    According  to  Fox, 


LAUNCESTON  GAOL 


131 


"  the  judge,  finding  those  snares  would  not  hold,  cried, 
'  Take  him  away,  gaoler,'  and  then  when  we  were 
taken  away,  he  fined  us  twenty  marks  apiece  for  not 
putting  off  our  hats,  and  to  be  kept  in  prison  till  we 
paid  it;  so  he  sent  us  back  to  the  gaol." 

In  other  words,  the  charge  on  which  the  Friends  had 
been  originally  arrested  fell  to  the  ground,  but  for 
"  contempt  of  court"  they  were  each  fined  £13  6s.  8d., 
with  imprisonment  till  the  fine  was  paid.  A  severe 
sentence  certainly,  but,  considering  the  sensitiveness  of 
an  English  court  of  law  on  the  subject  of  disrespect  to 
its  presiding  officer,  and  considering  also  the  novelty 
of  the  objection  to  remove  the  hat,  and  the  small 
experience  which  judges  had  yet  had  of  the  adamantine 
nature  of  a  Quaker  scruple,  not  a  sentence  which 
reflects  any  serious  discredit  on  the  character  of  the 
Chief  Justice. 

The  wildly  absurd  charge  which  Ceely  had  in  the 
second  instance  brought  against  Fox  was  explained  by 
Captain  Bradden,  who  with  seven  or  eight  magistrates 
called  that  evening  at  the  prison,  and  told  the  Friends 
that  neither  the  judge,  nor  any  one  in  court,  believed 
Major  Ceely's  accusation  about  a  conspiracy,  though 
Bradden  believed  that  if  he  could  have  found  another 
witness,  Ceely  would  have  pressed  for  a  capital  con- 
viction. Then  Fox  asked  him  why  he  had  remained 
silent  when  the  Major  vouched  him  as  a  witness  for 
the  striking  of  a  blow.  "  Why,"  said  he,  "  when  Major 
Ceely  and  I  came  by  you,  as  you  were  walking  on  the 
Castle  green  [the  courtyard  of  the  prison],  he  put  off  his 
hat  to  you,  and  said,  '  How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Fox — your 
servant,  sir  ! '  Then  you  said  to  him,  '  Major  Ceely, 
take  heed  of  hypocrisy,  and  of  a  rotten  heart ;  for 


132 


GEORGE  FOX 


when  came  I  to  be  thy  master,  and  thou  my  servant  ? 
Do  servants  use  to  cast  their  masters  into  prison  ? ' 
This  was  the  great  blow  he  meant  you  gave  him." 

The  sentence  passed  on  Fox  and  his  friends,  it  will 
be  remembered,  was  not  primarily  one  of  imprisonment, 
but  fine,  and  imprisonment  till  the  fine  should  be  paid. 
There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  they  could  not  have 
paid  £13  apiece ;  in  fact,  the  price  of  their  horses 
alone  would  probably  have  been  nearly  sufficient  for 
the  purpose.  But  there  was  now  to  be  a  demonstration 
of  the  fact,  often  proved  in  after  years,  that  the  Quaker 
would  rather  undergo  any  amount  of  imprisonment 
than  satisfy  what  he  conceived  to  be  an  unjust  demand. 
It  was  in  many  cases  a  living  death  that  he  thus 
confronted,  for  the  prisons  of  England  in  that  century 
were  horrible  beyond  description;  still,  when  the 
Quaker  had  made  up  his  mind  that  a  certain  claim  was 
unrighteous,  he  would  rather  suffer  anything  than  pay 
it;  and  this  invincible  resolution  of  his  had  no  small 
share  in  bringing  about  the  victorious  issue  of  the 
battle  which  was  to  be  waged  for  liberty  of  thought 
duriDg  the  following  half-century. 

Now  that  the  Assizes  were  over,  and  the  Friends 
were  evidently  in  for  a  long  term  of  imprisonment, 
they  decided  to  send  their  horses  away,  and  no  longer 
to  pay  the  gaoler  his  fourteen  shillings  apiece  for  the 
horses'  bait  and  the  riders'  board.  This  exasperated 
the  gaoler,  who  as  well  as  the  under-gaoler,  and  the 
wives  of  both  men,  were  all  notorious  bad  characters, 
bearing  the  mark  of  the  branding-iron  for  theft  and 
other  crimes.  The  gaol  itself  and  the  lands  round  it 
belonged  to  a  Baptist  preaching  Colonel  named  Bennet, 
and  the  appointment  to  the  office  of  gaoler  was  in  his 


LAUNCESTON  GAOL 


133 


gift.  The  gaoler,  in  his  rage  at  being  baulked  of  his 
gains,  thrust  Fox  and  his  friends  into  a  horrible 
dungeon  called  Doomsdale,  the  especial  receptacle  of 
condemned  murderers  and  witches,  and  said  to  be 
haunted  by  their  unquiet  spirits.  Of  the  spirits  Fox 
had  no  fear.  "  I  told  them,"  he  says,  "  that  if  all  the 
spirits  and  devils  in  hell  were  there  I  was  over  them  in 
the  power  of  God,  and  feared  no  such  thing ;  for  Christ, 
our  priest,  would  sanctify  the  walls  and  house  to  us ; 
He  who  bruised  the  head  of  the  devil."  But  the 
material  discomforts,  or  I  should  rather  say,  the  horrors 
of  Doomsdale  could  not  be  so  lightly  passed  over,  and 
the  description  which  Fox  gives  of  them  in  his 
Journal}  a  description  which  would  sicken  my  readers 
if  I  dared  to  quote  it,  shows  us  that  at  that  time,  after 
England  had  been  for  a  thousand  years  a  Christian 
country,  her  unhappy  prisoners  were  treated  with  a 
barbarity  which  could  hardly  be  surpassed  at  this  day 
even  in  the  awful  pest-houses  of  Morocco.2  In  reading 
this  and  similar  narratives  one  feels  a  thrill  of  indig- 
nation at  the  divines  and  statesmen  of  all  sects  and 
schools,  who  were  wrangling  over  Episcopacy,  Presby- 
terianism,  Independency,  the  eastward  position  of  the 
altar,  and  the  jus  divinum  of  synods  and  presbyteries, 
while  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  justice,  mercy, 
and  truth  were  so  dismally  neglected.  The  members 
of  the  Society  founded  by  Fox  may  reflect  with  some 

1  I.  282. 

2  Fox's  Journals  supply  many  vivid  illustrations  of  Macaulay's 
words,  "the  prisons  were  hells  on  earth,  seminaries  of  every 
crime  and  every  disease.  At  the  assizes  the  lean  and  yellow 
culprits  brought  with  them  from  their  cells  to  the  dock  an 
atmosphere  of  stench  and  pestilence,  which  sometimes  avenged 
them  signally  on  bench,  bar,  and  jury"  [the  well-known  "gaol- 
fever"].    {History  of  England,  Cap.  III.  ad  finem.) 


134 


GEORGE  FOX 


satisfaction,  that  it  was  a  saintly  woman,  the  daughter 
of  a  Quaker  family,  who  first  carried  the  torch  of 
Christian  civilization  into  the  hellish  darkness  of 
Newgate.1 

At  the  present  day  the  grim  fortress  of  Launceston 
Castle  has  none  but  pleasant  associations  for  the  in- 
habitants of  the  little  Cornish  town.  Leased  from 
the  Crown  by  a  public-spirited  nobleman  who  has 
generously  handed  it  over  to  the  public,  its  round 
shell-keep  rises  over  a  terraced  garden  planted  with 
noble  evergreens,  and  below  this  garden  is  a  fine  level 
playground  for  the  school  children,  which  was  formerly 
the  courtyard  of  the  Castle.  At  the  north-eastern  end 
of  this  is  a  ruined  gateway  containing  a  little  roofless 
chamber  about  twelve  feet  square,  which  rightly  or 
wrongly  is  identified  by  local  tradition  with  the  horrible 
Doomsdale  of  Fox's  Journal. 

In  this  place,  foul  with  indescribable  nastiness,  the 
prisoners,  whom  the  gaoler  called  "  hatchet-faced  dogs," 
were  kept  for  many  days  before  he  would  allow  them 
to  clean  it,  and  fed  like  dogs  through  a  grating.  Once 
a  girl  brought  them  a  little  meat,  but  he  arrested  her 
for  house-breaking,  sued  her  in  the  town  court,  and 
put  her  to  so  much  trouble  that  none  of  the  other 
inhabitants,  though  kindly  disposed,  durst  bring  them 
water  or  victuals.  However,  before  long  the  quarter 
sessions  at  Bodmin  were  held,  and  a  statement  of  the 
hardships  inflicted  on  the  prisoners,  drawn  up  and 
presented  to  the  magistrates,  brought  down  an  order 
"  that  Doomsdale  door  should  be  opened,  and  that  the 
prisoners  should  be  allowed  to  cleanse  it  and  to  buy 

1  John  Howard's  work,  noble  as  it  was,  seems  to  have  been 
more  efficacious  on  the  Continent  than  in  England  itself. 


LAUNCESTON  GAOL 


135 


their  meat  in  the  town."  A  petition  was  also  sent  to 
the  Protector,  setting  forth  the  whole  history  of  their 
arrest  and  imprisonment,  and  this  was  replied  to  by  an 
order  to  Captain  Fox,  governor  of  Pendennis  Castle,  to 
inquire  into  the  grievances  complained  of.  Captain 
Fox,  whom  his  namesake  speaks  of  rather  slightingly 
as  "  a  light,  chaffy  man,"  seems  in  this  case  to  have 
done  his  duty  faithfully.  The  abusive  soldiers,  who 
had  formed  the  escort  party,  their  commander  Captain 
Keat,  and  his  evil-minded  kinsman  who  had  struck 
Fox  in  the  inn,  and  tried  to  throw  him,  were  all 
severely  reprimanded.  There  were  many  of  the  county 
magnates  staying  at  that  time  at  Pendennis,  and  they 
told  the  bullying  kinsman  that  if  the  Quaker  chose  to 
change  his  principle,  and  take  the  extremity  of  the  law 
against  him,  he  would  probably  recover  sound  damages 
for  the  assault. 

It  would  seem  that  after  these  petitions,  and  the 
replies  to  them,  the  treatment  of  the  prisoners  was 
somewhat  improved,  and  they  were  taken  out  of  Dooms- 
dale.  All  sorts  of  people  came  to  visit  them — Friends, 
officers  in  the  army,  private  soldiers,  "  professors,"  and 
other  prisoners — and  the  encounters  between  Fox  and 
his  visitors  were  sometimes  amusing,  sometimes  alarm- 
ing. One  Colonel  Rouse,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  came 
one  day  to  see  the  Friends,  bringing  a  great  company 
with  him.  "  He  was  as  full  of  words  and  talk,"  says 
Fox,  "  as  ever  I  heard  any  man  in  my  life,  so  that  there 
was  no  speaking  to  him."  At  length,  tired  of  the  vain 
attempt  to  get  in  a  word  edgeways,  Fox  asked  him 
whether  he  had  ever  been  at  school,  and  knew  what 
belonged  to  questions  and  answers.  "  At  school,"  said 
he;  "yes."    "At  school,"  said  the  soldiers  who  were 


136 


GEORGE  FOX 


among  his  followers ;  "  doth  he  say  so  to  our  colonel 
that  is  a  scholar  ? "  Then  said  Fox,  "  If  he  be  so  [a 
scholar]  let  him  be  still,  and  receive  answers  to  what  he 
hath  said."  "Then  I  was  moved  to  speak  the  word  of 
life  to  him  in  God's  dreadful  power,  which  came  so 
over  him  that  he  could  not  open  his  mouth ;  his  face 
swelled  and  was  red  like  a  turkey ;  his  lips  moved, 
and  he  mumbled  something,  but  the  people  thought 
he  would  have  fallen  down.  I  stepped  to  him,  and 
he  said  he  was  never  so  in  his  life  before;  for  the 
Lord's  power  stopped  the  evil  power  in  him :  so  that  he 
was  almost  choked.  This  man  was  ever  after  very 
loving  to  Friends,  and  not  so  full  of  airy  words  to  us, 
though  he  was  full  of  pride,  but  the  Lord's  power  came 
over  him  and  the  rest  that  were  with  him." 

A  half-drunken  soldier  came  in  to  see  the  prisoners, 
and  when  one  of  the  Friends  was  "  exhorting  him  to 
sobriety,"  he  began  to  draw  his  sword.  Quite  un- 
daunted, Fox  stepped  up  to  him,  and  told  him  what  a 
cowardly  thing  it  was  to  draw  a  sword  on  an  unarmed 
man,  and  a  prisoner,  that  he  was  not  fit  to  be  trusted 
with  such  a  weapon,  and  that  some  men  in  their  place 
would  have  taken  his  sword  from  him  and  broken  it  to 
pieces.  The  tipsy  fellow  had  sense  enough  left  to  be 
ashamed,  and  reeled  out  of  the  room. 

Drunkenness  seems  to  have  been  the  order  of  the 
day  in  Launceston  Castle.  One  night,  at  eleven  o'clock, 
the  gaoler  came  half  drunk  to  Fox,  and  told  him  he 
had  now  got  a  man  to  dispute  with  him.  Something 
about  the  gaoler's  manner  made  Fox  suspicious,  and 
that  night  he  spent  not  in  his  own  chamber,  but  sleep- 
ing on  the  grass  courtyard  of  the  Castle.  Still  next 
day  the  gaoler  maundered  on  about  the  dispute  or  debate 


LAUNCESTON  GAOL 


137 


that  was  to  be  held,  and  the  man  who  was  to  conduct 
it.  At  length  it  turned  out  that  the  debater  was  none 
other  than  a  man  who  had  been  committed  to  prison 
as  a  rogue  and  a  vagabond,  for  deceiving  people  by 
conjuring  tricks,  and  that  his  method  of  argument  was 
with  a  big  clasp-knife.  Being  called  out  of  his  chamber 
Fox  stepped  to  the  top  of  the  stairs,  and  saw  the 
gaoler's  wife  standing  on  the  stairs,  and  the  conjurer 
at  the  bottom  of  them,  holding  his  hand  behind  his 
back,  and  in  a  great  rage.  He  asked  him,  "  Man,  what 
hast  thou  in  thy  band  behind  thy  back  ?  Pluck  thy 
hand  before  thee :  let  us  see  thy  hand,  and  what  thou 
hast  in  it."  Out  came  the  naked  knife,  but  ere  he 
could  do  any  mischief  with  it,  the  gaoler's  wife,  to 
whom  Fox  complained  of  the  meditated  outrage,  seems 
to  have  interfered  and  prevented  further  mischief.1 
Certainly  the  English  prisons  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  with  all  their  hideousness,  must  have  been 
more  amusing  places  to  be  imprisoned  in  than  the 
monotonous  penitentiaries  of  the  nineteenth. 

All  this  time  the  Friends  were  busily  engaged  in 
writing  letters  and  pamphlets  setting  forth  their  views, 
and  showing  the  injustice  of  their  imprisonment.  One 
such  document,  drawn  up  by  Edward  Pyot,  who  was 
probably  the  man  of  best  education  among  them,  was 
addressed  to  Chief  Justice  Glyn.2  As  it  occupies 
thirteen  closely  printed  octavo  pages,  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  the  busy  judge  never  read  it.  More  effectual  was 
the  action  of  a  certain  Friend  named  Humphrey 
Norton,3  who  went  to  the  Protector  and  offered  himself 

1  Fox's  account  of  this  adventure  is  rather  obscure,  and  it  is 
not  easy  to  understand  the  gaoler's  or  the  conjurer's  motives. 

2  Dated  fourteenth  of  fifth  month  [July]  1656. 
J  His  name  is  given  in  the  MS.  Journal. 


138 


GEORGE  FOX 


"  body  for  body  to  lie  in  Doomsdale,  if  need  were,  in 
Fox's  stead."  Cromwell  was  struck  by  the  loyal 
devotion  which  Fox  had  inspired,  and  turning  to  his 
Privy  Council  said,  "  Which  of  you  would  do  so  much 
for  me  if  I  were  iu  the  same  condition  ? "  It  was 
of  course  decided  that  the  law  would  not  allow  of  such 
a  substitution,  but  from  this  time  Cromwell  was 
evidently  determined  to  put  an  end  to  Fox's  imprison- 
ment. Another  impulse  in  the  same  direction  was 
given  by  the  words  of  Hugh  Peters,  fervidest  of  Puritans, 
staunchest  and  j oiliest  of  army  chaplains,1  who  shrewdly 
told  his  master  Cromwell  that  they  could  do  George 
Fox  no  greater  service  for  the  spreading  of  his  principles 
in  Cornwall  than  to  keep  him  shut  up  in  Launceston 
Castle. 

The  result  of  these  varied  agencies  was  that  an  order 
came  down  to  Major-General  Desborough  for  the  liber- 
ation of  the  Quaker  prisoners  in  Launceston  Gaol. 
Desborough  endeavoured  to  exact  a  promise  that  they 
would  go  home  and  preach  no  more,  but  this,  though 
they  told  him  that  their  mission  in  Cornwall  was 
accomplished,  they  steadfastly  refused  to  give.  Waiving 
this  point  at  last,  he  had  then  to  meet  the  remonstrances 
of  Colonel  Bennet,  the  Puritan  lessee  of  the  gaol,  the 
master  of  the  drunken  and  felonious  gaoler,  who 
required  payment  of  the  gaoler's  fees.  There  was  a 
wrangle  over  this  question  between  the  Colonel  and 
the  prisoners,  but  they  declared  "  they  would  give  no 
fees,  for  they  were  innocent  sufferers,  and  how  could  they 
expect  fees  from  men  who  had  suffered  so  long  wrong- 
fully?"   In  the  end  the  Quaker  obstinacy  triumphed, 

1  See  Gardiner,  History  of  the  Civil  War,  ii.  326,  for  a  life-like 
portrait  of  Hugh  Peters. 


LAUNCESTON  GAOL 


139 


and  Bennet  (who  had  probably  received  a  hint  from 
the  Major-General  that  he  would  not  be  supported  in 
his  claim)  let  the  prisoners  go  on  September  13,  1656. 

To  complete  the  story  of  Launceston  Gaol  it  should 
be  mentioned,  that  in  the  year  after  Fox's  imprisonment 
the  wicked  gaoler  lost  his  place,  and  was  himself  thrown 
into  prison.  While  there  he  begged  for  alms  from  the 
Friends,  who  during  Fox's  imprisonment  had  been 
gathered  into  a  congregation  at  Launceston,  and  event- 
ually he  was  actually  shut  up  himself  in  the  horrible 
Doomsdale,  chained,  beaten,  and  told  by  his  successor  to 
"remember  the  good  men  whom  he  had  wickedly 
without  any  cause  cast  into  that  nasty  dungeon."  He 
died  in  prison,  and  his  wife  and  family  came  to  want. 

The  fine  castle-yard  at  Launceston,  which  is  now,  as 
has  been  said,  a  playground  for  the  school-boys,  was 
in  Fox's  time  a  bowling-green.  Thither  came  the 
great  Major-General  Desborough  to  play  the  game 
which  had  been  so  dear  to  the  imprisoned  king,  and 
thither  came  the  magnates  of  the  county  and  the 
citizens  of  Launceston  to  play  likewise.  We  note 
with  some  regret  that  Fox  thought  himself  called  upon 
to  protest  against  this  innocent  and  healthful  amuse- 
ment. He  put  forth  one  of  his  favourite  "papers," 
beginning,  "  The  word  of  the  Lord  to  all  you  vain  and 
idle-minded  people  who  are  lovers  of  sports,  pleasures, 
foolish  exercises  and  recreations,  as  you  call  them. 
Consider  your  ways :  what  it  is  you  are  doing.  Was 
this  the  end  of  your  creation  ?  Did  God  make  all 
things  for  you,  and  you  to  serve  your  lusts  and 
pleasures?"  and  so  forth. 

One  cannot  help  feeling  that  here  the  Puritan 
atmosphere  in  which   Fox   had  grown  to  manhood 


140 


GEORGE  FOX 


clouded  his  spiritual  perception.  To  have  distinguished 
between  recreations  healthful  and  harmful  Lad  been 
well,  but  to  condemn,  as  he  virtually  does  in  this  paper, 
all  recreation  as  contrary  to  the  will  of  God,  shows 
that  he  had  need  of  further  "  openings "  as  to  the 
place  of  wisely  chosen  recreation  in  the  Divine 
economy. 


CHAPTER  X 


IN  WALES  AND  SCOTLAND 

After  Fox's  liberation  from  Launceston  Gaol,  lie 
journeyed  in  a  leisurely  manner  through  Cornwall  and 
Devonshire  to  Bristol.  At  Exeter  he  went  to  see 
James  Naylor,  once  his  loved  and  trusted  companion, 
now  in  prison  on  account  of  the  extravagant  proceedings 
of  himself  and  some  of  his  female  followers  in  the  west 
of  England.  Fox's  own  account  of  the  interview  is  as 
follows  : — 

"  From  thence  we  came  to  Exeter,  where  many 
Friends  were  in  prison,  and  amongst  the  rest  James 
Naylor.  For  a  little  before  we  were  set  at  liberty 
James  had  run  out  into  imaginations,  and  a  company 
with  him,  which  raised  up  a  great  darkness  in  the 
nation.  He  came  to  Bristol,  and  made  a  disturbance 
there,  and  from  thence  he  was  coming  to  Launceston  to 
see  me,  but  was  stopped  by  the  way  and  imprisoned  at 
Exeter.  .  .  .  The  night  we  came  to  Exeter  I  spoke 
with  James  Naylor,  for  I  saw  he  was  out  and  wrong, 
and  so  was  his  company.  Next  day  being  First-day, 
we  went  to  visit  the  prisoners,  and  had  a  meeting  with 
them  in  the  prison;  but  James  Naylor  and  some  of 
them  could  not  stay  the  meeting.  .  .  .  The  next  day 
I  spoke  to  James  Naylor  again,  and  he  slighted  what  I 

141 


142 


GEORGE  FOX 


said,  and  was  dark  and  much  out ;  yet  he  would  have 
come  and  kissed  me.  But  I  said,  '  since  he  had  turned 
against  the  power  of  God  I  could  not  receive  his  show 
of  kindness.'  The  Lord  moved  me  to  slight  him,  and 
to  set  the  power  of  God  over  him." 

Shortly  after  this  Naylor  was  liberated  and  went  to 
Bristol,  where  the  maddest  scene  in  the  whole  tragedy 
was  enacted — a  male  votary  leading  Naylor's  horse  bare- 
headed, while  the  females  spread  their  handkerchiefs 
before  him,  and  shouted  "  Hosannah  !  "  a  manifest  and 
audacious  parody  of  Christ's  entry  into  Jerusalem. 
Had  such  an  event  happened  in  our  day,  the  chief 
actors  would  have  been  kindly  taken  care  of  in  the 
nearest  county  asylum,  and  would  probably  in  a  few 
months  have  come  out  cured.  Puritanism,  itself  so 
dour  and  dark,  had  no  such  compassion  for  the  fevered 
brains  of  those  whom  it  regarded  as  wilful  blasphemers. 
Cromwell's  second  Parliament  met  on  September  17, 
1656,  and  one  of  its  first  employments  was  with  the 
case  of  James  Naylor,  upon  whom  it  passed  that 
atrocious  sentence,  which  in  the  eyes  of  posterity  has 
caused  the  folly  of  the  fanatic  to  be  well-nigh  forgotten 
in  the  thought  of  the  bigot  cruelty  of  his  judges.  To 
be  pilloried  for  two  hours,  to  be  whipped  by  the  hang- 
man through  the  streets  from  Westminster  to  the  Old 
Exchange  in  the  City,  to  be  pilloried  again  two  days 
after  for  two  hours,  to  have  his  tongue  bored  through 
with  a  hot  iron,  and  to  be  branded  in  the  forehead 
with  the  letter  B,  to  be  again  flogged  through  the 
streets  of  Bristol,  and  then  to  be  committed  to  prison 
with  solitary  confinement  and  hard  labour  during  the 
pleasure  of  Parliament — such  was  the  sentence  which 
these  men  imagined  that  they  honoured  Christ  by 


IN  WALES  AND  SCOTLAND 


143 


inflicting  on  His  crazy  imitator.  We  are  rejoiced  to 
find  that  the  cruel  severity  of  the  sentence  shocked 
many  even  of  the  Puritan  party,  and  that  Cromwell 
showed  his  utter  disapproval  of  the  action  of  Parliament, 
though  he  did  not  feel  strong  enough  to  come  to  an 
open  rupture  with  that  body.1 

The  one  bright  point  in  the  whole  dreary  business 
is  the  fact  that  in  the  long  hours  of  his  solitary  con- 
finement, Naylor  recovered  spiritual  sanity,  and  in  deep 
contrition  of  soul  retracted  the  claim  to  a  kind  of 
Messiahship  which  the  extravagance  of  his  followers 
had  led  him  to  set  up. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  most  careful  students  of 
Quaker  literature,  that  this  business  of  Naylor's  exercised 
a  certain  sobering  influence  on  Fox  himself.  He  per- 
haps saw  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Inward  Light,  which 
was  the  very  life  of  life  to  his  own  soul,  needed  to  be 
cautiously  stated  and  kept  always  in  its  due  relation 
to  the  life  and  words  of  the  historic  Christ,  if  it  was 
not  to  work  a  kind  of  spiritual  intoxication,  such  as  it 
had  produced  in  Naylor  and  the  mad  women  who  sang 
their  hosannahs  round  him.  It  seems  to  me  that  in 
Fox's  conflicts  with  the  authorities  after  this  time,  we  do 
not  hear  those  charges  of  blasphemy  advanced  against 
him  which  were  common  in  his  earlier  career.  Probably 
too  the  very  necessity  of  defending  his  doctrine  against 
the  disputants  who  attacked  it  had  given  a  certain 
definiteness  and  coherence  to  those  utterances,  which 
were  at  first  only  a  wild  and  mournful  cry  after  the 

1  The  dates  are  October  31,  1656,  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons  on  Naylor's  case ;  December  16,  1656,  decision  as  to 
his  punishment  ;  December  18,  27,  1656,  sentence  executed  in 
London;  some  time  afterwards  at  Bristol;  September  8,  1659, 
Naylor  released  from  prison  by  order  of  the  Kuinp  Parliament. 


144 


GEORGE  FOX 


living  God.  He  himself  tells  us  that  one  of  his  hearers, 
who  had  listened  to  him  in  his  earlier  days,  remarked 
the  change  which  had  of  late  come  over  his  ministry. 
Fox's  comment  is,  "  the  change  was  in  himself;"  but  it 
seems  probable  that  there  was  also  a  real  growth,  an 
increased  power  and  lucidity  in  the  preacher. 

The  year  1656,  which  we  have  now  reached,  was  a 
fruitful  one  for  the  new  Society.  Many  thousands  had 
nowjoined  it,  and  there  were  seldom  fewer  than  one 
thousand  in  prison  at  the  same  time,  "  some  for  non- 
payment of  tithes,  some  for  speaking  in  the  churches, 
some  for  refusing  to  swear,  and  some  for  not  putting  off 
their  hats."  All  this,  it  must  be  remembered,  was 
under  the  Commonwealth,  and  under  the  rule  of  a 
man  who  undoubtedly  desired  to  give  as  much  liberty 
to  religious  dissidents  as  public  opinion  would  allow. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Fox  had  his  second  inter- 
view with  the  great  Protector.  It  happened  that  when 
the  Friends  were  entering  London  on  their  return  from 
their  long  western  journey,  as  they  came  near  Hyde 
Park  they  saw  a  great  concourse  of  people,  and  in  the 
heart  of  the  throng  the  Lord  Protector  riding  in  his 
coach.  Fox  spurred  his  steed  and  rode  up  to  the 
carriage.  The  life-guards  who  were  riding  alongside 
of  it  were  jostling  him  away,  when  Cromwell  looked 
forth  and  said,  "  Let  him  come."  So  he  rode  alongside 
as  far  as  the  entrance  into  St.  James's  Park,  discoursing 
of  Cromwell's  own  spiritual  state,  of  the  sufferings  of 
Friends  in  the  prisons  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  the 
contrast  between  all  this  persecution  for  matters  of 
religion  and  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  His  apostles.  At 
parting,  Cromwell  desired  him  to  visit  him  at  White- 
hall, and  when  he  returned  to  his  palace,  he  told  one  of 


IN  WALES  AND  SCOTLAND 


145 


his  wife's  maids,  a  Quakeress  named  Mary  Saunders, 
that  he  had  good  news  for  her — "  George  Fox  was  come 
back  to  London,  and  had  ridden  with  him  from  Hyde 
Park  to  St.  James's." 

Shortly  after,  Fox  went  with  his  friend  Pyot  to  call 
on  the  Protector  at  Whitehall.  The  great  Independent 
John  Owen,  at  this  time  Dean  of  Christ  Church,  and 
Vice-Chancellor  of  Oxford  University,  was  closeted  with 
the  Protector,  and  one  can  see  that  his  presence  was 
not  conducive  to  that  open  heart-to-heart  intercourse 
which  there  had  once  been  between  the  two  men.  Fox 
spoke  about  the  Light  of  Christ.  Cromwell  got  into 
a  theological  discussion,  whether  there  were  anything 
more  in  this  than  the  natural  light  of  conscience.  Fox, 
feeling  the  Divine  afflatus  strong  upon  him,  urged 
Cromwell  repeatedly,  and  with  strong  emotion,  "  to  lay 
down  his  crown  at  the  feet  of  Jesus."  Cromwell  was 
in  an  unsympathetic  vein,  came  and  sat  upon  a  high 
table  by  Fox's  side,  and  said  in  a  light,  joking  way,  "  I 
will  be  as  high  as  you  are."  "  Thus  he  continued 
speaking  against  the  Light  of  Christ  Jesus,  and  went 
away  in  a  light  manner.  But  the  Lord's  power  came 
over  him,  so  that  when  he  came  to  his  wife  and  other 
company,  he  said,  '  I  never  parted  so  from  them  before,' 
for  he  was  judged  in  himself." 

After  this  interview  Fox  made  a  circuit  through  the 
home  counties,  as  well  as  the  northern  shires  of  Lincoln 
and  York;  he  had  a  large  meeting  near  the  battle- 
field of  Edgehill,  and  he  experienced  the  rudeness  of 
the  scholars  at  Oxford.  In  these  travels  he  was  en- 
deavouring to  fulfil  a  commission  which,  as  he  felt, 
was  entrusted  to  him  while  he  was  still  cooped  up  in 
Launceston  Gaol.  The  first  promulgation  of  his  doctrines 

L 


146 


GEORGE  FOX 


in  most  parts  of  England  was  now  accomplished — "  the 
truth  was  now  spread,  and  finely  planted  in  most 
places,"  and  his  present  business  was  "  to  answer  and 
remove  out  of  the  minds  of  people  some  objections 
which  the  envious  priests  and  professors  had  raised 
and  spread  abroad  concerning  us.  For  what  Christ 
said  of  false  prophets  and  anti-christs  coming  in  the 
last  days,  they  applied  to  us,  and  said  '  We  were  they.' " 
Probably  we  may  trace  in  this  passage  also  some  evidence 
of  the  effect  produced  on  Fox's  own  mind  by  James 
Naylor's  claim  to  Messiahship. 

In  the  next  year  (1657)  Fox  broke  new  ground  by 
making  visitations  to  Wales  and  Scotland.  Wales 
resembled  Cornwall  in  the  strength  of  its  Royalism, 
as  it  was  to  resemble  it  a  century  later  in  the  fervour 
of  its  Methodism.  Apparently,  however,  Fox's  preaching 
in  the  Principality  was  more  successful  than  it  had 
been  in  Cornwall.1  He  was  accompanied  by  a  Welsh- 
man, named  John-ap- John,  who  could  speak  the  Cymric 
tongue,  evidently  a  fervid  and  fearless  man,  and  one  who, 
strange  to  say,  surpassed  even  Fox  himself  in  his  power 
of  arousing  the  opposition  of  "  priests  "  and  magistrates. 
At  several  towns  we  hear  of  ap-John  as  being  thrown 
into  prison,  while  Fox  is  still  at  liberty,  but  he  appears 
to  have  been  generally  liberated  after  confinement  for 
a  day  or  two.  At  Brecknock,  John-ap-John  preached 
to  the  people  in  the  streets,  no  doubt  using  the  Welsh 
language.  Fox  went  forth  for  one  of  his  usual  meditative 
walks  in  the  fields,  and  when  he  returned  found  the 
whole  town  in  an  uproar.    His  room  in  the  inn  was 

1  The  small  number  of  Friends  now  to  be  found  in  Wales  is,  I 
believe,  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  very  large  migrations  thence 
to  Pennsylvania.  It  had  a  considerable  Quaker  population  at 
the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century. 


IN  WALES  AND  SCOTLAND 


147 


full  of  people,  all  talking  Welsh,  but  who  at  his  request 
spoke  in  English,  and  much  discourse  they  had  together. 
At  nightfall,  the  magistrates — so  Fox  believed — gathered 
a  multitude  of  people  together  in  the  streets,  and  bade 
them  shout,  making  such  a  noise  as  Fox  had  never 
before  heard.  The  wild  clamour  continued  for  two 
hours,  and  reminded  Fox  of  the  similar  scene  enacted 
by  Diana's  craftsmen  at  Ephesus.  Probably  the  fact 
that  many  of  the  people  were  shouting  in  Welsh  made 
the  noise  seem  to  Fox  more  meaningless  than  it  really 
was.  He  was  a  true  Englishman,  and  evidently  had 
an  instinctive  feeling  that  English  was  the  proper 
language  for  a  reasonable  being  to  use. 

Thus  at  Dolgelly,  when  John-ap-John's  street  preach- 
ing had  gathered  a  multitude  round  him,  he  says,  "  there 
being  two  Independent  priests  in  the  town,  they  came 
out  and  discoursed  with  him  together.  I  went  up  to 
them,  and  finding  them  speaking  in  Welsh  I  asked 
them,  '  What  was  the  subject  they  spoke  upon,  and 
why  were  they  not  more  moderate,  and  spake  not  one 
by  one  ?  For  the  things  of  God,'  I  told  them,  '  were 
weighty,  and  they  should  speak  of  them  with  fear  and 
reverence.'  Then  I  desired  them  to  speak  in  English, 
that  I  might  discourse  with  them,  and  they  did  so." 
The  discussion  turned  on  the  nature  of  the  "light 
within,"  which  the  Independents,  like  Cromwell  their 
chief,  declared  to  be  "a  created,  natural-made  light," 
while  Fox  maintained  it  to  be  heavenly,  divine,  and 
God-enkindled. 

At  Tenby,  Fox  had  a  curious  argument  with  an 
official  whom  he  calls  the  governor,  and  who  had,  as 
usual,  thrown  John-ap-John  into  prison. 

"  Why  had  he  done  this  ? "  Fox  asked. 


148 


GEORGE  FOX 


Governor.  "  For  standing  with  his  hat  on  in  church." 

G.  F.  "  Had  not  the  priest  two  caps  on  his  head,  a 
black  one  and  a  white  one  ?  Cut  off  the  brims  of  the 
hat,  and  then  my  friend  would  have  but  one ;  and  the 
brims  of  the  hat  are  but  to  defend  him  from  the 
weather." 

Governor.  "  These  are  frivolous  things." 

G.  F.  "  Why  then  dost  thou  cast  my  friend  into 
prison  for  such  frivolous  things?" 

Governor.  "  Do  you  own  Election  and  Reprobation  ? " 

G.  F.  "  Yes ;  and  thou  art  in  the  Reprobation." 

Governor  (in  a  rage).  "  I  will  send  you  to  prison  till 
you  prove  it." 

G.  F.  "  I  will  prove  it  quickly,  if  thou  wilt  confess 
truth.  Are  not  wrath,  fury,  rage,  and  persecution  marks 
of  reprobation?  Did  Christ  and  His  disciples  ever 
persecute  or  imprison  any  ? " 

"  Then,"  says  Fox,  "  the  governor  fairly  confessed 
that  he  had  too  much  wrath,  haste,  and  passion  in  him. 
I  told  him  Esau  was  up  in  him,  the  first  birth,  not 
Jacob,  the  second  birth.  The  Lord's  power  so  reached 
and  came  over  him  that  he  confessed  to  truth  ;  and  the 
other  justice  came  and  shook  me  kindly  by  the  hand. 

"As  I  was  passing  away,  I  was  moved  to  speak  to 
the  governor  again,  and  he  invited  me  to  dine  with 
him,  and  set  my  friend  at  liberty.  I  went  back  to  the 
other  justice's  house,  and  after  some  time  the  mayor 
and  his  wife,  and  the  justice  and  his  wife,  and  divers 
other  Friends  of  the  town  went  about  half-a-mile  with 
us  to  the  water-side,  and  there,  when  we  parted  from 
them,  I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  kneel  down  with 
them  and  pray  to  the  Lord  to  preserve  them.  So 
after  I  had  recommended  them  to  the  Lord  Jesus 


IN  WALES  AND  SCOTLAND 


149 


Christ  their  Saviour  and  free  teacher,  we  passed  away 
in  the  Lord's  power,  and  the  Lord  had  the  glory.  A 
meeting  continues  in  that  town  to  this  day." 

Fox's  opinion  of  the  moral  condition  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Principality  was  generally  somewhat  unfavour- 
able. The  people  of  Haverfordwest,  he  says,  "were 
a  kind  of  Independents,  but  it  was  a  wicked  town  and 
false.  We  bade  the  innkeeper  give  our  horses  a  peck 
of  oats ;  and  no  sooner  bad  we  turned  our  backs  than 
the  oats  were  stolen  from  our  horses."  Again  at 
another  great  town  (the  name  of  which  he  seems  to 
have  forgotten) — "  In  that  inn  also  I  turned  but  my 
back  to  the  man  that  was  giving  oats  to  my  horse,  and 
looking  round  again,  I  observed  he  was  filling  his 
pockets  with  the  provender.  A  wicked,  thievish  people, 
to  rob  the  poor  dumb  creature  of  his  food.  I  would 
rather  they  had  robbed  me." 

The  scene  at  the  Straits  of  Menai  brings  vividly 
before  us  the  change  which  has  been  wrought  in  that 
region  by  the  genius  of  Telford  and  Stephenson.  It 
need  not  be  said  that  there  was  then  no  bridge  across 
the  stormy  straits.  "  Next  day  being  market-day,  we 
were  to  cross  a  great  water,  and  not  far  from  the  place 
where  we  were  to  take  boat,  many  of  the  market  people 
drew  to  us,  amongst  whom  we  had  good  service  for  the 
Lord,  declaring  the  word  of  life  and  everlasting  truth 
unto  them.  .  .  .  After  the  Lord's  truth  had  been 
declared  unto  them  in  the  power  of  God,  and  Christ 
the  free  teacher  set  over  all  hireling  teachers,  I  bid 
John-ap-John  get  his  horse  into  the  boat,  which  was 
then  ready.  But  there  having  got  into  it  a  company 
of  wild  gentlemen,  as  they  called  them,  whom  we  found 
very  rude,  and  far  from  gentleness,  they  with  others 


150 


GEORGE  FOX 


kept  his  horse  out  of  the  boat.  I  rode  to  the  boat's 
side  and  spoke  to  them,  showing  them  what  unmanly 
and  unchristian  conduct  it  was ;  and  told  them  they 
showed  an  unworthy  spirit  below  Christianity  or  hu- 
manity. As  I  spoke,  I  leaped  my  horse  into  the  boat 
amongst  them,  thinking  John's  horse  would  have  followed 
when  he  had  seen  mine  go  in  before  him ;  but  the 
water  being  deep,  John  could  not  get  his  horse  into 
the  boat.  Wherefore  I  leaped  out  again  on  horseback 
into  the  water,  and  stayed  with  John  on  that  side  till 
the  boat  returned.  There  we  tarried  from  eleven  in 
the  forenoon  to  two  in  the  afternoon  before  the  boat 
came  to  fetch  us;  and  then  we  had  forty- two  miles  to 
ride  that  evening;  and  when  we  had  paid  for  our 
passage  we  had  but  one  groat  left  between  us  in 
money." 

How  the  difficulty  as  to  their  short  supply  of  cash 
was  surmounted  Fox  does  not  inform  us.  The  passage 
above  quoted,  and  several  other  slight  indications  of 
the  same  kind,  make  one  think  that  Fox,  who  had 
been  a  country-bred  lad,  was  a  skilful  and  fearless 
horseman.  The  word  "  unmanly "  is  a  favourite  word 
with  him  when  he  is  denouncing  cowardice  or  cruelty, 
and  everything  about  him  seems  to  show  that  with 
all  his  almost  fastidious  conscientiousness  he  was  no 
tender  and  unpractical  recluse,  but  a  full-blooded, 
courageous,  manly  man. 

I  have  room  for  only  one  more  anecdote  about  this 
Welsh  journey,  and  it  relates  to  the  ridiculous  prejudice 
about  his  long  hair.  It  was  at  Wrexham  that  "  one 
called  a  lady "  sent  for  him.  She  kept  a  domestic 
chaplain,  or  as  Fox  says  "  a  preacher,"  in  her  house ; 
but  he  found  both  great  lady  and  preacher  "  very  light 


IN  WALES  AND  SCOTLAND  151 


and  airy,  too  light  to  receive  the  weighty  things  of 
God."  In  her  lightness  she  came  and  asked  Fox  if 
she  should  cut  his  hair,  but  received  instead  a  grave 
admonition  to  cut  down  her  own  corruptions  by  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  So  the  Friends  passed 
away  from  the  house ;  but  Fox  heard  afterwards  that 
"she  boasted  in  her  frothy  mind  that  she  had  come 
behind  him  and  cut  off  the  curl  of  his  hair,  but  she 
spoke  falsely." 

Thus  ended  the  Wesh  journey.  "  Very  weary  we 
were  with  travelling  so  hard  up  and  down  in  Wales: 
and  in  many  places  we  found  it  difficult  to  get  meat 
either  for  our  horses  or  ourselves." 

More  than  ever  welcome,  after  these  rough  and  hard 
journeyings,  must  have  been  the  repose  of  hospitable 
Swarthmoor,  whither  the  travellers  directed  their  steps, 
riding  through  Cheshire  and  Lancashire,  and  over  the 
sands  into  Furness. 

After  enjoying  a  few  months'  respite  from  travel, 
George  Fox,  who  "had  for  some  time  felt  drawings 
on  his  spirit  to  go  into  Scotland,"  crossed  the  border 
and  entered  that  country.  He  had  with  him  a  friend 
named  Robert  Widders,  whom  he  describes  as  "a 
thundering  man  against  hypocrisy,  deceit,  and  the 
rottenness  of  the  priests."  His  first  interview  in  Scot- 
land was  with  an  unnamed  nobleman,  and  is  described 
by  him  in  the  following  words : — 

"  The  first  night  we  came  into  Scotland,  we  lodged 
at  an  inn.  The  innkeeper  told  us  an  Earl  lived  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  off  who  had  a  desire  to  see  me, 
and  had  left  word  at  his  house  that  if  ever  I  came 
into  Scotland  he  should  send  him  word.  He  told  us 
there  were  three  drawbridges  to  his  house,  and  that 


152 


GEORGE  FOX 


it  would  be  nine  o'clock  before  the  third  bridge  was 
drawn.  Finding  we  had  time  in  the  evening  we 
walked  to  his  house.  He  received  us  very  lovingly, 
and  said  he  would  have  gone  with  us  on  our  journey, 
but  he  was  previously  engaged  to  go  to  a  funeral. 
After  we  had  spent  some  time  with  him,  we  parted 
very  friendly  and  returned  to  our  inn."  It  would  be 
interesting  to  discover  who  was  this  friendly  nobleman. 
Was  it  forgetfulness,  or  a  desire  not  to  expose  him  to 
persecution,  which  prevented  Fox  from  mentioning  his 
name  ? 1 

Scotland  in  1657,  held  down  under  the  stern  rule 
of  Cromwell,  outwardly  peaceable,  but  sore  at  heart, 
clinging  more  tightly  than  ever  to  its  Calvinistic 
creed  and  its  Presbyterian  discipline,  was  no  favour- 
able ground  for  the  reception  of  Fox's  anti-Calvinistic 
teaching.  Almost  immediately  on  entering  the  country 
he  became  engaged  in  a  dispute  with  the  ministers  on 
the  central  doctrine  of  Calvinism.  "  Now,"  as  he 
says,  "the  priests  had  frightened  the  people  with  the 
doctrine  of  election  and  reprobation,  telling  them  that 
God  had  ordained  the  greatest  part  of  men  and  women 
for  hell,  and  that,  let  them  pray  or  preach  or  sing, 
or  do  what  they  could,  it  was  all  to  no  purpose  if  they 
were  ordained  for  hell ;  that  God  had  a  certain  number 
elected  for  heaven,  let  them  do  what  they  would,  as 
David,  an  adulterer,  and  Paul,  a  persecutor,  yet  elected 
vessels  for  heaven.  So  the  fault  was  not  at  all  in  the 
creature  less  or  more,  but  God  had  ordained  it  so." 
Against  this  terrible  doctrine  Fox  protested  with  all 

1  From  the  geographical  indications  I  am  disposed  to  suggest 
Caerlaverock  Castle,  the  abode  of  the  Earl  of  Nithsdale,  as  the 
scene  of  this  interview. 


IN  WALES  AND  SCOTLAND  153 


the  energy  of  his  soul,  pleading  the  world-wide  character 
of  Christ's  commission,  "  Go  preach  the  gospel  to  all 
nations  " :  which  is  the  gospel  of  salvation.  "  He  would 
not  have  sent  them  into  all  nations  to  preach  the 
doctrine  of  salvation,  if  the  greater  part  of  men  had 
been  ordained  for  hell ; "  pleading  also  the  benefits  of 
Christ's  death  as  a  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world ;  and  his  own  favourite  text,  "  That  was  the  true 
light  which  enlighteneth  every  man  that  cometh  into 
the  world." 

The  tidings  of  Fox's  arrival,  and  the  fear  that  he 
would  "spoil"  their  hearers,  as  they  heard  that  he 
had  "  spoiled  all  the  honest  men  and  women  in  England 
already,"  roused  the  Scottish  ministers  to  strenuous 
opposition.  According  to  Fox,  they  drew  up  a  number 
of  curses,  which  were  to  be  read  aloud  in  all  the 
churches,  and  to  which  the  people  were  to  thunder 
out  their  "  Amens,"  after  the  manner  of  the  Israelites 
on  Mount  Ebal. 

The  first  was,  "  Cursed  is  he  that  saith  '  Every  man 
hath  a  light  within  him  sufficient  to  lead  him  into 
salvation ' ;  and  let  all  the  people  say  Amen." 

The  second,  "  Cursed  is  he  that  saith  '  Faith  is  without 
sin '  [no  doubt  an  allusion  to  Fox's  teaching  about 
perfection] ;  and  let  all  the  people  say  Amen." 

The  third,  "  Cursed  is  he  that  denieth  the  Sabbath 
day ;  and  let  all  the  people  say  Amen." 

Fox  dryly  remarks  on  the  last  sentence,  "  In  this  last 
they  make  the  people  curse  themselves :  for  on  the 
Sabbath  day  (which  is  the  seventh  day  of  the  week, 
which  the  Jews  kept  by  the  command  of  God  to  them) 
they  kept  markets  and  fairs,  and  so  brought  the  curse 
upon  their  own  heads." 


154 


GEORGE  FOX 


After  visiting  several  other  places  in  the  south  of 
Scotland,  Fox  came  to  Edinburgh  and  preached  there. 
Many  officers  of  the  army,  which  was  stationed  at 
Leith,  came  with  their  wives  to  hear  him,  and  were 
convinced  by  his  words.  A  cry  for  protection  against 
the  new  doctrines,  and  especially  against  the  announce- 
ment that  the  Gospel  ought  to  be  preached  without 
charge,  went  up  to  the  Protector's  Council  in  London 
from  the  clergy  in  Edinburgh.  The  result  was  an  order 
that  he  should  appear  before  "  his  Highness' s  Council 
in  Edinburgh."  He  obeyed  the  summons;  the  door- 
keeper took  off  his  hat,  and  hung  it  up,  and  he  went 
in  and  stood  before  the  Council.  "When  I  had  stood 
awhile,"  he  says,  "and  they  had  said  nothing  to  me, 
I  was  moved  of  the  Lord  to  say,  '  Peace  be  amongst 
you ;  wait  in  the  fear  of  God,  that  ye  may  receive  His 
wisdom  from  above,  by  which  all  things  were  made  and 
created ;  that  by  it  ye  may  all  be  ordered,  and  may 
order  all  things  under  your  hands  to  God's  glory.' " 

The  Council  questioned  him  as  to  the  reason  of  his 
visit  to  Scotland,  and  he  answered,  "that  he  had  come 
to  visit  the  seed  of  God  which  had  long  lain  under 
corruption,  and  that  all  in  that  nation  that  professed 
the  Scriptures  might  come  to  the  light,  Spirit,  and 
power  that  they  were  in  who  gave  them  forth."  The 
result  of  the  interview  was  an  order  that  Fox  should 
"  depart  the  nation  of  Scotland  by  that  day  sen-night." 
Evidently  the  Protector's  Council,  while  checking  the 
persecuting  tendencies  of  the  Presbyterian  clergy,  were 
anxious  not  to  have  the  precarious  peace  of  Scotland 
disturbed  by  the  preaching  of  English  "  sectaries." 

Fox,  however,  stayed  on  in  Scotland,  and  told  his 
friends  that  he  should  stay,  though  the  Council  issued 


IN  WALES  AND  SCOTLAND 


155 


a  cart-load  of  warrants  against  him.  He  left  Edinburgh, 
however,  and  travelled  up  and  down  through  the  Low- 
lands, having  some  strange  adventures — with  robbers 
lurking  behind  bushes,  whom  his  bold  address  daunted 
— with  Highlanders  "  who  were  so  devilish  that  they 
ran  at  us  with  pitchforks,  and  had  like  to  have  spoiled 
us  and  our  horses  " — with  some  Baptists,  "  vain  j  anglers 
and  disputers,"  who  being  vanquished  in  argument 
went  and  informed  the  governor  of  the  town.  He 
sent  a  whole  company  of  soldiers  to  march  Fox  and 
his  three  companions  out  of  the  place.  "As  they 
guarded  us  out  of  the  town,  James  Lancaster  [one 
of  the  three]  was  moved  to  sing  with  a  melodious 
sound  in  the  power  of  God;  and  I  was  moved  to 
proclaim  the  day  of  the  Lord,  and  to  preach  the 
everlasting  gospel  to  the  people.  For  they  generally 
came  forth,  so  that  the  streets  were  filled  with  them ; 
and  the  soldiers  were  so  ashamed  that  they  said,  '  they 
would  rather  have  gone  to  Jamaica  than  have  guarded 
us  so.'  But  we  were  put  into  a  boat  with  our  horses, 
carried  over  the  water,  and  then  left.  The  Baptists 
who  were  the  cause  of  our  being  put  out  of  this  town 
were  themselves  not  long  after  turned  out  of  the  army ; 
and  he  that  was  then  governor  was  discarded  also  when 
the  King  came  in." 

Lastly,  before  leaving  Scotland,  Fox  determined  to 
return  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  knew  that  there  were 
warrants  out  for  his  apprehension.  He  and  his  friend 
Robert  Widders,  passing  two  sentries,  rode  up  the 
street  to  the  market-place,  by  the  main  guard,  out  at 
the  gate,  by  the  third  sentry,  and  so  clear  out  at  the 
suburbs.  "  Now  I  saw  and  felt,"  he  says,  "  that  we 
had  rode  as  it  were  against  the  cannon's  mouth  or  the 


156 


GEORGE  FOX 


sword's  point;  but  the  Lord's  power  and  immediate 
hand  carried  us  over  the  heads  of  them  all."  The  next 
day  being  Sunday,  he  re-entered  the  city  and  had  "  a 
glorious  meeting  at  which  many  officers  and  soldiers 
were  present."  Thence  to  Dunbar  (still  trembling  at 
the  recollection  of  another  Englishman,  who  seven 
years  before  had  refused  to  depart  from  the  nation  of 
Scotland  when  summoned  to  do  so  by  the  Committee 
of  Estates),  and  here  Fox  had  a  meeting  in  the 
churchyard,  while  the  minister  was  giving  an  orthodox 
"  lecture "  in  the  church.  "  Friends  were  so  full,  and 
their  voices  so  high  in  the  power  of  God,  that  the 
priest  could  do  little  in  the  steeple-house,  but  came 
quickly  out  again,  stood  awhile,  and  then  went  his  way." 

"  This,"  Fox  says,  "  was  the  last  meeting  I  had  in 
Scotland.  The  truth  and  the  power  of  God  was  set  over 
that  nation  ....  There  is  since  a  great  increase, 
and  great  there  will  be  in  Scotland.  For  when  first  I 
set  my  horse's  feet  upon  Scottish  ground,  I  felt  the  seed 
of  God  to  sparkle  about  me  like  innumerable  sparks  of 
fire.  Not  but  that  there  is  abundance  of  thick,  cloddy 
earth  of  hypocrisy  and  falseness  above,  and  a  briery, 
brambly  nature  which  is  to  be  burned  up  with  God's 
Word,  and  ploughed  up  with  His  spiritual  plough,  before 
God's  seed  brings  forth  heavenly  and  spiritual  fruit  to 
His  glory.  But  the  husbandman  is  to  wait  in 
patience."  1 

1  The  reader  may  be  interested  in  comparing  these  words  of 
Fox  with  the  opinions  of  Cromwell  and  an  unnamed  officer  of  his 
army  on  the  moral  condition  of  Scotland,  as  given  in  Carlyle's 
Cromwell,  Letter  cxlix.,  and  Gardiner's  History  of  the  Common- 
wealth, i.  379. 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  END  OF  THE  PROTECTORATE 

The  three  years  following  Fox's  return  from  Scotland 
(1657-1659)  were  years  of  strange,  exciting,  and  per- 
plexing events  in  the  political  world,  of  which  we  get 
fitful  glances  in  the  pages  of  his  Journal.  He  himself, 
except  for  an  interval  of  some  weeks,  during  which  he 
was  laid  by  with  sickness  at  Reading,  was  engaged  in 
his  usual  work,  travelling  up  and  down  the  country, 
holding  religious  discussions,  addressing  meetings  of 
his  followers,  and  putting  forth  "papers"  on  various 
subjects  on  which  he  was  moved  to  exhort  his  fellow- 
countrymen. 

(1)  Of  the  discussions,  one  of  the  most  interesting 
was  that  which  he  held  with  a  Jesuit  who  was  in  the 
train  of  the  Spanish  Ambassador.  The  discussion, 
which  was  the  result  of  a  challenge  from  the  Jesuit 
took  place  in  the  town  mansion  of  the  Earl  of  Newport, 
not  far  from  St.  Martin's  Lane.  The  challenger  at  first 
proposed  to  meet  twelve  of  the  wisest  and  most  learned 
men  among  the  Quakers ;  then  he  came  down  to  six ; 
then  he  sent  word  that  there  must  be  but  three,  on 
which,  as  Fox  slyly  says,  "  We  hastened  what  we  could, 
lest,  after  all  his  great  boast,  he  should  put  it  quite  off 
at  last."    There  were  some  of  the  usual  arguments 

157 


158 


GEORGE  FOX 


about  transubstantiation,  materialist  replies  to  a 
materialist  theory.  "  Seeing  the  bread  is  immortal 
and  divine  ...  let  a  meeting  be  appointed  between 
some  of  them  (whom  the  Pope  and  his  cardinals  should 
appoint)  and  some  of  us ;  and  let  a  bottle  of  wine  and 
a  loaf  of  bread  be  brought  and  divided,  each  into  two 
parts,  and  let  them  consecrate  wbich  of  these  parts 
they  would.  And  then  set  the  consecrated  and  the 
unconsecrated  bread  and  wine  in  a  safe  place,  with  a 
sure  watch  upon  it,  and  let  trial  thus  be  made  :  whether 
the  consecrated  bread  and  wine  would  not  lose  its 
goodness,  and  the  bread  grow  dry  and  mouldy,  and  the 
wine  turn  dead  and  sour,  as  well  and  as  soon  as  that 
which  was  unconsecrated." 

A  more  interesting  part  of  the  discussion  was  that 
which  turned  on  the  relative  authority  of  the  Scriptures 
and  tradition.  It  might  have  been  thought  that  Fox, 
who  had  so  often  argued  against  the  undue  exaltation 
of  the  Scriptures  as  the  sole  guide  of  life,  would  here 
have  been  at  a  disadvantage,  but  he  defended  the 
Protestant  position  not  unsuccessfully.  The  Jesuit 
distinguished  between  "  the  written  word,"  or  the 
Scriptures,  and  "  the  unwritten  word,  those  things  that 
the  apostles  spake  by  word  of  mouth,  and  which  are 
those  traditions  that  we  practise." 

"  Scripture  proof  of  this  ?  "  asked  Fox.  "  Read  II. 
Thessalonians  ii.  5,"  said  the  Jesuit.  "  When  I  was 
with  you  I  told  you  these  things."  "  That  is,"  said  he 
[in  effect,  doubtless,  not  in  so  many  words],  "  I  told  you 
of  nunneries  and  monasteries,  and  of  putting  to  death 
for  religion,  and  of  praying  by  beads  and  to  images, 
and  all  the  rest  of  the  practices  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
which  was  the  unwritten  word  of  the  apostles,  which 


THE  END  OF  THE  PROTECTORATE  159 


they  told  them,  and  have  since  been  continued  down 
by  tradition  unto  these  times."  Fox  had  not  much 
difficulty  in  disposing  of  such  an  argument  as  this. 
He  desired  his  opponent  to  read  that  Scripture  again, 
and  see  how  the  apostle  there  alluded  not  to  any  such 
portentous  deposit  of  doctrine  outside  of  the  written 
word,  "  but  to  the  coming  of  the  Man  of  Sin,  the  son 
of  perdition."  Fox  did  not  himself  press  home,  as  a 
Puritan  divine  would  have  done,  the  identification  of 
the  Man  of  Sin  with  the  Pope,  but  undoubtedly  the 
Jesuit  understood  the  significant  allusion.  Of  course 
neither  party  in  the  slightest  degree  convinced  the 
other,  but  Fox's  comment  on  the  whole  is,  "  Thus  we 
parted,  and  his  subtilty  was  comprehended  by  sim- 
plicity." 

(2)  The  most  important  of  the  meetings  to  which  I 
have  referred,  was  one  held  at  Luton 1  in  Bedfordshire, 
and  was  a  gathering  of  the  members  of  the  new  sect 
from  all  parts  of  the  country.  This  was  called  a 
"  General  Yearly  Meeting,"  and  was  either  the  first  or 
one  of  the  first  of  a  series  of  Quaker  Parliaments,  which 
have  since  been  held  without  interruption  for  nearly 
two  centuries  and  a  half.2    "  The  meeting  lasted  three 

1  "At  John  Crook's  house,"  which  we  learn  from  a  previous 
entry  in  the  Journal  (I.  225)  was  at  Luton. 

2  From  a  very  early  date  in  the  history  of  the  Society  these 
annual  synods  have  been  held  in  London,  first  at  Gracechurch 
St.,  and  of  later  times  at  a  large  meeting-house  in  Bishopsgate, 
called  Devonshire  House.  There  is  one  assembly  of  men,  and 
another  of  women  (the  latter  of  more  recent  institution  than  the 
former),  and  the  numbers  vary  from  two  or  three  hundred  to 
something  like  two  thousand.  There  is  a  system  of  representation, 
but  others  besides  the  regularly  appointed  representatives  are 
allowed  to  take  part  in  the  proceedings.  The  presiding  officer 
is  called  the  Clerk,  and  is  elected  annually,  but  generally  holds 
office  for  some  years.    No  expressions  of  applause  or  disapproba- 


160 


GEORGE  FOX 


days,  and  many  Friends  from  most  parts  of  the  nation 
came  to  it,  so  that  the  inns  and  towns  around  were 
filled.  And  although,"  Fox  continues,  "  there  was  some 
disturbance  by  rude  people  that  had  run  out  from 
truth,  yet  the  Lord's  power  came  over  all,  and  a 
glorious  meeting  it  was."  Fox  delivered  two  long  and 
impressive,  though  not  argumentative  sermons,  one  of 
which  seems  to  have  been  intended  for  those  among 
the  hearers  who  were  yet  unconvinced  of  his  principles, 
while  the  other  was  addressed  to  his  professed  followers, 
and  contained  many  valuable  hints  as  to  the  regulation 
of  the  ministry  (all,  of  course,  voluntary  and  unpaid), 
which  was  beginning  to  be  exercised  abundantly  in  all 
the  meetings  of  the  new  Society.  "  Take  heed  of  many 
words."  "  That  which  cometh  from  the  [Divine]  life, 
and  is  received  from  God,  reaches  to  the  life,  and  settles 
others  in  the  life,  for  the  work  is  not  now  as  it  was  at 
first;  the  work  now  is  to  settle  and  stay  in  the  life." 
"  The  ministers  who  travel  must  for  their  own  particular 
growth  dwell  in  the  life,  which  doth  open,  and  that 
will  keep  down  that  which  would  boast."  "  The 
minister  should  first  know  his  own  spirit,  and  then  he 
may  know  others."  "  Keep  down,  keep  low,  that 
nothing  may  reign  in  you  but  life  itself."  "Friends 
must  have  patience  [with  disputers],  must  wait  in 
patience  in  the  cool  life,  and  he  who  is  in  this  hath  the 
tasting  of  the  Lamb's  power  and  authority."  "  There- 
fore all  Friends  keep  cool  and  quiet  in  the  power  of 

tion  are  allowed,  and  there  is  no  voting,  strictly  so  called.  Speakers 
deliver  short  statements  of  their  opinions  on  one  side  or  another, 
and  the  Clerk,  in  deciding  on  the  sense  of  the  meeting,  is  allowed, 
and  indeed  expected  to  pay  some  regard  to  the  maxim,  "Sen- 
tentiae  ponderantur  non  numerantur."  Practically  one  hardly 
ever  hears  of  these  decisions  being  called  in  question. 


THE  END  OF  THE  PROTECTORATE 


161 


the  Lord  God,  and  all  that  is  contrary  will  be  subjected  ; 
the  Lamb  hath  the  victory  through  the  [Heavenly] 
Seed,  through  the  patience  [of  the  saints]."  With 
many  such  words  of  cheer  and  counsel  Fox  addressed 
the  first  Quaker  Convocation. 

(3)  Of  the  "  papers  "  published  by  Fox  at  this  time, 
one  of  the  most  interesting  is  that  addressed  to  the 
wreckers  in  Cornwall.  Like  almost  all  that  proceeded 
from  his  pen,  it  has  no  graces  of  style,  but  it  is  full  of 
that  zeal  for  righteousness,  for  righteous  doing  as  distinct 
from  pious  talking,  which  is  characteristic  of  all  George 
Fox's  utterances,  and  which  certainly  had  something  to 
do  with  the  opposition  which  he  encountered. 

Fox's  own  account  of  the  practices  against  which  he 
protested  is  as  follows : — "  While  I  was  in  Cornwall " 
[this  was  on  his  second  visit  to  the  county,  in  1659] 
"there  were  great  shipwrecks  about  the  Land's  End. 
Now  it  was  the  custom  of  that  country,  that  at  such  a 
time  both  rich  and  poor  went  out  to  get  as  much  of 
the  wreck  as  they  could,  not  caring  to  save  the  people's 
lives ;  and  in  some  places  they  call  shipwrecks  '  God's 
grace.' 1  These  things  troubled  me :  it  grieved  my 
spirit  to  hear  of  such  unchristian  actions,  considering 
how  far  they  were  below  the  heathen  at  Melita,  who 
received  Paul,  made  him  a  fire,  and  were  courteous 
towards  him,  and  them  that  had  suffered  shipwreck  with 
him.  Wherefore  I  was  moved  to  write  a  paper  and 
send  it  to  all  the  parishes,  priests,  and  magistrates,  to 
reprove  them  for  such  greedy  actions,  and  to  warn  and 
exhort  them  that,  if  they  would  assist  to  save  people's 

1  The  fouler  charge  against  the  Cornishmen,  that  they  actually 
caused  shipwrecks  by  displaying  false  lights  on  the  shore,  and  so 
forth,  is  not  noticed  by  Fox,  and  may  probably  be  set  down  as  a 
myth  of  later  times. 

M 


162 


GEORGE  FOX 


lives,  and  preserve  their  ships  and  goods,  they  should 
use  diligence  therein  ;  and  consider  if  it  had  been  their 
own  condition,  they  would  judge  it  hard  if  they  should 
be  upon  a  wreck,  and  people  should  strive  to  get  what 
they  could  from  them  and  not  regard  their  lives."  One 
feels  that  there  is  in  these  words  the  germ  of  those 
noble  institutions  the  Life-boat  and  the  Life-saving 
Brigade,  which  are  among  the  best  contributions  that 
the  nineteenth  century  has  made  to  the  practical 
exposition  of  Christianity. 

At  the  close  of  the  paper  is  a  postscript  addressed 
more  especially  to  Friends,  exhorting  them  to  "keep 
out  of  the  ravenous  world's  spirit  which  leads  to 
destroy,  and  which  is  out  of  the  wisdom  of  God. 
When  ships  are  wrecked,  do  not  run  to  destroy  and 
make  havoc  of  ship  and  goods  with  the  world,  but  to 
save  the  men  and  the  goods  for  them,  and  so  deny 
yourselves  and  do  unto  them  as  ye  would  that  they 
should  do  unto  you." 

While  Fox  was  thus  moving  up  and  down  the 
country,  and  working  according  to  his  light  for  the 
extension  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  the  Common- 
wealth, which,  as  the  Puritan  hoped,  was  to  have  been 
the  earthly  realization  of  that  heavenly  state,  was 
falling  asunder  into  ruin,  and  another  kingdom  of  a 
very  different  kind  was  being  set  up  once  more  in 
England. 

I  will  collect  here  the  notices,  few  but  interesting, 
which  we  find  in  Fox's  Journal  of  the  events  which 
led  up  to  the  Restoration. 

Proposed  Kingship  of  Cromwell.  "  There  was  also 
a  rumour  about  this  time"  (April — May  1657)  "of 
making  Cromwell  king :  whereupon  I  was  moved  to 


THE  END  OF  THE  PROTECTORATE  163 


go  to  him,  and  warned  him  against  it  and  of  divers 
dangers,  which  if  he  did  not  avoid  he  would  bring  a 
shame  and  ruin  upon  himself  and  his  posterity.  He 
seemed  to  take  well  what  I  said  to  him,  and  thanked 
me :  yet  afterwards  I  was  moved  to  write  to  him  more 
fully  concerning  that  matter." 

Sickness  of  Lady  Claypole.  The  story  of  Oliver's  love 
for  this,  his  favourite  daughter,  and  of  his  grief  for  her 
death,  which  happened  so  shortly  before  his  own,  is 
well  known.  Elizabeth  Claypole  was  his  sixth  child, 
and  was  born  in  1629.  She  was  therefore  five  years 
younger  than  Fox.  She  was  married  when  about 
seventeen  to  John  Claypole,  a  Northamptonshire 
gentleman,  whom  his  father-in-law  made  first  a  baronet 
and  then  a  lord,  whence  his  wife's  title  of  Lady  Claypole. 
For  many  months  apparently,  in  1658,  she  lay  sick, 
stricken  by  a  lingering  and  fatal  malady.  Fox  says — 
"  About  this  time  the  Lady  Claypole,  so  called,  was  sick 
and  much  troubled  in  mind,  and  could  receive  no 
comfort  from  any  that  came  to  her :  which  when  I 
heard  of  I  was  moved  to  write  to  her  the  following 
letter."  The  letter,  which  is  shorter  than  many  of 
its  kind,  as  befitted  the  delicate  state  of  the  receiver, 
is  loving  and  tender,  but  contains  no  very  striking 
thoughts.  Apparently  the  strident  voice  of  the  enthu- 
siastic preacher  is  softened,  till  the  speaker  himself  can 
hardly  recognize  it,  by  the  silence  of  the  sick-room. 
He  exhorts  the  dying  lady  to  be  still  and  cool  in  her 
own  mind  and  spirit  from  her  own  thoughts,  desires, 
and  imaginations,  and  to  be  staid  in  the  principle  of 
God  within  her,  that  it  may  raise  her  mind  up  to  God, 
whom  she  will  find  to  be  a  God  at  hand,  and  a  very 
present  help  in  time  of  trouble.    The  letter  ends,  "  So 


164 


GEORGE  FOX 


in  the  name  and  power  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  God 
Almighty  strengthen  thee.    G.  F." 

"When  the  foregoing  paper,"  he  continues,  "was 
read  to  Lady  Claypole,  she  said  it  stayed  her  mind  for 
the  present.  Afterwards  many  Friends  got  copies  of 
it,  both  in  England  and  Ireland,  and  read  it  to  people 
that  were  troubled  in  mind,  and  it  was  made  useful 
for  the  settling  of  the  minds  of  several." 

Cromwell's  last  days.  The  death  of  Lady  Claypole 
happened  on  August  6.  A  fortnight  later1  Fox, 
after  describing  a  short  detention  which  he  and  two 
of  his  companions  suffered  at  the  hands  of  two  of 
Colonel  Hacker's  troopers,  and  their  speedy  liberation, 
continues : — 

"  The  same  day,  taking  boat,  I  went  to  Kingston, 
and  thence  to  Hampton  Court  to  speak  with  the 
Protector  about  the  sufferings  of  Friends.  I  met  him 
riding  into  Hampton  Court  Park,  and  before  I  came  to 
him,  as  he  rode  at  the  head  of  his  life-guard,  I  saw  and 
felt  a  waft  of  death  go  forth  against  him ;  and  when  I 
came  to  him,  he  looked  like  a  dead  man.  After  I  had 
laid  the  sufferings  of  Friends  before  him,  and  had 
warned  him  according  as  I  was  moved  to  speak  to  him, 
he  bade  me  come  to  his  house.  So  I  returned  to 
Kingston,  and  next  day  went  to  Hampton  Court  to 
speak  further  with  him.  But  when  I  came  he  was  sick, 
and  Harvey,  who  was  one  that  waited  on  him  [groom 
of  the  bedchamber],  told  me  the  doctors  were  not 
willing  that  I  should  speak  with  him.    So  I  passed 

1  Friday  the  twentieth  of  August  1658  is  the  date  assigned  by 
Carlyle  to  this  interview.  He  says  justly  enough,  "  George  dates 
nothing,  and  his  facts  everywhere  lie  round  him  like  the  leather 
parings  of  his  old  shop,  but  we  judge  it  may  have  been"  the  day 
mentioned  above. 


THE  END  OF  THE  PROTECTORATE  165 


away  and  never  saw  him  more."  It  was  a  fortnight 
after  this  interview,  on  the  well-known  date,  the  3rd  of 
September,  the  anniversary  of  Dunbar  and  Worcester, 
that  the  spirit  of  that  noble  and  much  calumniated 
Englishman  went  forth  from  the  world. 

Anarchy  after  Cromwell's  death.  That  ineffectual 
cipher  of  a  sovereign,  Richard  Cromwell,  makes  as 
little  impression  on  the  pages  of  Fox's  Journal  as 
elsewhere  in  history.  Fox  himself,  as  I  have  said, 
was  laid  up  for  several  weeks  with  sore  sickness  at 
Reading.  His  countenance  was  altered ;  he  looked 
poor  and  thin,  and  was  tempted  to  think  that  the 
plagues  of  God  were  upon  him.  Soon,  however,  he 
recovered  his  health  and  vigorous  appearance,  and 
returned  to  London,  where,  as  he  says — 

"  Now  there  was  a  great  pudder  (agitation)  made  about 
the  image  or  effigy  of  Oliver  Cromwell  lying  in  state : 
men  standing  and  sounding  with  trumpets  over  his  image 
after  he  was  dead.  At  this  my  spirit  was  greatly 
grieved,  and  the  Lord  I  feared  was  highly  offended."  1 
He  wrote  a  short  paper  of  protest  against  this  pageant, 
and  told  the  authorities  that  "  the  sober  people  in 
these  nations  stood  amazed  at  their  doings,  and  were 
ashamed,  as  if  they  would  bring  in  Popery." 

As  he  truly  says,  at  this  time  "  there  was  great  con- 
fusion and  distraction  amongst  the  people,  and  powers 
were  plucking  each  other  to  pieces."  He  addressed 
an  earnest  warning  to  his  followers  to  "  keep  out  of 
all  the  bustlings  in  the  world,  to  meddle  not  with  the 

1  Cromwell's  effigy,  robed  in  purple,  was  taken  to  Westminster 
Abbey  on  the  twenty-third  of  November,  seventy-four  days  after 
his  death.  His  embalmed  body  had  been  buried  there  a  short 
time  before.  Fox's  return  to  London  must  therefore  have  taken 
place  not  later  than  the  close  of  November. 


166 


GEORGE  FOX 


powers  of  the  earth,  but  mind  the  Kingdom,  the  way 
of  peace."  I  have  already1  quoted  the  passage  in 
which  Fox  describes  the  agitation  consequent  on  Sir 
George  Booth's  premature  Royalist  outbreak  (August 

1659)  ,  and  the  exhortations  which  he  then  addressed 
to  his  followers  warning  them  against  taking  part  in 
such  commotions.  So,  apart  from  all  the  "  bustlings  of 
the  world,"  Fox  moves  about  his  appointed  sphere  of 
labour,  visits  Norwich,  where  he  has  a  hot  dispute  with 
a  clergyman  named  Townsend  ;  visits  Cornwall,  where, 
as  we  saw,  he  writes  a  paper  against  the  wreckers; 
visits  Tewkesbury  and  Worcester,  and  groans  over  the 
excesses  which  accompanied  the  General  Election  (April 

1660)  .  "  In  all  my  time,"  he  says,  "  I  never  saw  the 
like  drunkenness  as  in  the  towns,  for  they  had  been 
choosing  Parliament-men.  At  Worcester,  the  Lord's 
truth  was  set  over  all,  people  were  finely  settled 
therein,  and  Friends  praised  the  Lord ;  nay  I  saw  the 
very  earth  rejoiced.  Yet  great  fears  and  troubles  were 
in  many  people,  and  a  looking  for  the  King's  coming 
in,  and  all  things  being  altered.  They  would  ask  me 
what  I  thought  of  times  and  things.  I  told  them  the 
Lord's  power  was  over  all,  and  His  light  shone  over 
all ;  that  fear  would  take  hold  only  on  the  hypocrites, 
such  as  had  not  been  faithful  to  God,  and  on  our 
persecutors." 

About  General  Monk,  the  adroit  actor  in  the  trans- 
formation-scene from  Republic  to  Monarchy,  Fox  had 
written  these  words,  describing  the  impression  produced 
upon  him  by  the  General  during  his  own  visit  to  Scotland 
(1657) — "  And  I  saw  General  Monk  that  he  was  as  a 
man  that  bowed  under  0.  P.,  and  had  a  covering  over 

1  p.  44. 


THE  END  OF  THE  PROTECTORATE 


167 


him ;  and  take  away  that  covering  and  then  he  was  the 
man  as  he  was  before  [Royalist],  as  he  did  fulfil  it  in 
a  few  years  after."  1 

After  all,  the  great  event  of  May  29,  1660,  the  cele- 
brated Oak  Apple  Day,  when  Charles  II.  recovered 
the  throne  of  his  forefathers,  passes  absolutely  unnoticed 
in  Fox's  Journal.  It  is  only  at  the  time  of  his  next 
conflict  with  the  authorities,  which  happened  at  Lan- 
caster, that  we  find  he  is  accused,  in  the  mittimus  which 
commits  him  to  prison,  of  being  "a  disturber  of  the 
peace  of  the  nation,  and  an  enemy  to  the  King,"  and 
then  we  know  that  the  Restoration  is  accomplished 
and  that  "  the  King  enjoys  his  own  again." 

Posthumous  insults  to  the  Protector.  Not  the  worst,  but 
one  of  the  most  contemptible  actions  of  the  triumphant 
Royalism  was  the  ghoul-like  vengeance  wreaked  on  the 
bodies  of  the  dead  hero  and  his  companions.  On  Janu- 
ary 30, 1661  (the  twelfth  anniversary  of  King  Charles's 
execution),  the  bodies  of  Cromwell,  Ireton,  and  Brad- 
shaw,  which  had  been  dug  up  out  of  their  graves  at 
Westminster,  were  drawn  in  sledges  to  Tyburn,  hung 
there  till  sunset,  and  were  then  beheaded.  The  "  loath- 
some trunks,"  says  the  Royalist  scribe,  "were  thrown 
into  a  deep  hole  under  the  gallows,  and  the  three  heads 
were  set  up  by  the  hangman  on  poles  on  the  top  of 
Westminster  Hall."  The  ghastly  sight  awoke  strange 
memories  in  the  mind  of  Fox,  who  in  connection 
therewith  gives  us  a  singular  story  (unknown,  I  be- 
lieve, to  any  other  author),  of  Oliver's  vows  on  the  eve 
of  the  battle  of  Dunbar. 

1  This  passage,  which  is  in  the  MS.  Journal,  was  omitted  in 
the  printed  copies.  Probably  Ellwood  thought  it  inexpedient  to 
publish  it. 


168 


GEORGE  FOX 


"Though  0.  C.  at  Dunbar  fight  had  promised  to 
the  Lord,  that  if  He  gave  him  the  victory  over  his 
enemies  he  would  take  away  tithes,  etc.,  or  else  let 
him  be  rolled  into  his  grave  with  infamy;  but  when 
the  Lord  had  given  him  victory,  and  he  came  to  be 
chief,  he  confirmed  the  former  laws,  that  if  people 
did  not  set  forth  their  tithe  they  should  pay  treble, 
and  this  to  be  executed  by  two  Justices  of  Peace  in 
the  country,  upon  the  oath  of  two  witnesses.  But 
when  the  King  came  in  they  took  him  up  and  hanged 
him,  and  buried  him  under  Tyburn,  where  he  was 
rolled  into  his  grave  with  infamy.  And  when  I  saw 
him  hanging,  then  I  saw  his  word  justly  come  upon 
him."  1 

On  a  review  of  all  the  notices  of  Cromwell's  actions 
contained  in  the  Journal,  one  feels  that  Fox  hardly  did 
justice  to  his  character,  and  especially  to  his  genuine 
desire  for  toleration  all  round,  except  to  the  Roman 
Catholics.  Fox  seems  to  have  thought  that  the  Pro- 
tector had  only  to  say  the  word,  and  all  the  doors  of 
the  prisons  wherein  Friends  were  confined  would  fly 
open.  But,  autocrat  as  Cromwell  was,  he  ruled  only 
by  the  favour  of  the  army  and  the  Independent  party, 

1  This  interesting  passage  is  to  be  found  in  the  MS.  Journal, 
a  little  after  the  account  of  Fox's  release  from  Lancaster  Gaol, 
but  is  omitted  from  all  the  printed  editions.  Probably  Ellwood 
and  his  co-editors  thought  that  it  bore  too  hardly  on  Cromwell's 
memory.  It  comes  in  just  before  the  sentence,  "  And  there  being 
about  seven  hundred  Friends  in  prison."  Vol.  I.  p.  490  (ed.  1892). 
The  expression  about  "  being  rolled  into  the  grave  with  infamy  " 
occurs  in  the  celebrated  speech  addressed  to  Oliver's  first  Parlia- 
ment, September  12,  1654.  Fox  was  probably  mistaken  in 
connecting  it  in  any  way  with  the  abolition  of  tithes.  The 
alternative  in  Cromwell's  speech  was  "  the  wilful  throwing  away 
of  this  Government  so  owned  of  God";  in  other  words,  his  abdi- 
cation of  the  Protectorate. 


THE  END  OF  THE  PROTECTORATE  169 


and  though  these  were  in  the  main  disposed  to  toler- 
ation, there  was  always  in  their  eyes  a  fringe  of  eccen- 
tric and  heterodox  sects  outside  the  circle  of  respectable 
Christianity,  which  it  was  not  wise  or  safe  to  tolerate. 
Did  the  Quakers  belong  to  this  zone  of  intolerable 
sectaries  or  no  ?  Cromwell  himself,  and  the  more 
enlightened  of  his  counsellors,  probably  thought  that 
they  did  not,  but  there  was  many  an  enthusiastic 
trooper  in  his  army  who  thought  that  they  did,  and 
who  would  have  held  that  great  occasion  was  given  to 
the  enemy  to  blaspheme  by  announcing  that  no  Quaker 
was  to  be  molested  for  preaching  the  Inward  Light,  or 
refusing  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Commonwealth. 
All  this  limited  Cromwell's  power  to  assist  a  body  of 
men  whom  he  probably  thought  hot-headed  and  quarrel- 
some, but  whom  he  perceived  to  have  a  grasp  of  some 
spiritual  truths,  the  promulgation  of  which  could  not 
but  be  of  benefit  to  the  nation.  Fox,  however,  who 
saw  the  persecution,  did  not  perceive  the  restraining 
hand  held  over  it  by  the  Protector. 

"  What's  done  we  partly  may  compute, 
We  know  not  what's  resisted." 


CHAPTER  XII 


THE   STUARTS   AND   THE  QUAKERS 

IMPRISONMENTS  AT  LANCASTER  AND  SCARBRO' 

The  reign  of  the  Saints  was  over,  and  the  reign  of  the 
Sinners  had  begun.  No  more  would  be  heard  the  psalm 
chanted  by  thousands  of  manly  voices  on  the  eve  of 
desperate  battle.  Such  old-world  sounds  as  these  were 
to  be  replaced  by  the  rattle  of  the  dice-box  and  the 
light  laugh  of  the  courtesan,  for  "  our  most  religious  and 
gracious  king,"  Charles  Stuart  the  younger,  had  set  up 
his  harem  in  Whitehall,  where  lately  Cromwell  had 
dictated  his  letters  to  Milton,  and  his  commands  to 
Europe.  Before  returning  to  claim  his  father's  throne, 
Charles  II.  had  published  the  celebrated  "  Declaration  " 
from  Breda,  in  which  he  promised  to  grant  "  liberty  of 
conscience,  so  that  no  man  should  be  disquieted  or 
called  in  question  for  differences  of  opinion  in  matters 
of  religion  which  did  not  concern  the  peace  of  the 
kingdom,  and  to  consent  to  such  Acts  of  Parliament  as 
should  be  offered  him  for  confirming  that  indulgence." 
How  Charles  kept  this  promise  all  the  world  knows. 
Except  when  Mary  was  kindling  the  fires  of  Smithfield, 
or  when  Elizabeth  was  waging  her  most  ruthless  war 
against  the  adherents  of  the  old  faith,  there  is  perhaps 

170 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS  171 


no  period  of  English  history  in  which  the  rights  of 
conscience  were  more  atrociously  invaded,  or  men  and 
women  more  tyrannically  "called  in  question  for 
differences  of  opinion  in  matters  of  religion  which  did 
not  concern  the  peace  of  the  kingdom,"  than  during  the 
reign  of  Charles  II.  Three  laws  which  disgraced  the 
English  statute  book  in  this  rei<m  stand  out  in  bad 
pre-eminence  as  the  most  conspicuous  violations  of  the 
virtual  compact  between  the  returning  King  and  his 
subjects. 

1.  The  Act  of  Uniformity  (May  19,  1662),  by  which 
all  clergymen  were  compelled  to  declare  their  unfeigned 
assent  and  consent  to  all  and  everything  contained  in 
the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  on  pain  of  forfeiting  all 
their  "  spiritual  promotions."  In  obedience  to  this  Act,  as 
every  one  knows,  about  two  thousand  Puritan  ministers 
were  ejected  from  their  parsonages  on  St.  Bartholomew's 
Day  (August  24,  1662),  and  had  to  begin  the  world 
anew,  without  even  the  slender  provision  of  one-fifth  of 
their  late  incomes  which  had  been  left  to  the  Anglican 
clergy  by  the  Long  Parliament  when  they  were  ejected 
for  refusing  to  take  the  Covenant. 

2.  The  Conventicle  Act  (May  17,  1664),  which  is  thus 
described  in  the  words  of  its  promoters — "  The  first 
offence  of  being  in  a  Conventicle  or  meeting  of  more 
than  five  persons  in  addition  to  members  of  a  family  for 
any  religious  purpose  not  in  conformity  with  the  Church 
of  England,  we  have  made  punishable  only  with  a  small 
fine  of  £5,  or  three  months'  imprisonment,  and  £10 
for  a  peer.  The  second  offence  with  £10,  or  six 
months'  imprisonment,  and  £20  for  a  peer.  But  for 
the  third  offence — the  party  convicted  shall  be  trans- 
ported [for  seven  years]  to  some  of  your  Majesty's 


172  GEORGE  FOX 

foreign  plantations,  unless  he  redeem  himself  by  laying 
down  £100." 

3.  The  Five  Mile  Act  (October  31,  1665)  is  perhaps 
the  meanest  and  most  spiteful  of  all  the  persecuting 
edicts  that  ever  received  the  sanction  of  an  English 
sovereign.  As  the  ministers  ejected  on  St.  Bartholo- 
mew's Day  still  continued  to  earn  a  subsistence, 
however  scanty,  by  turning  school-master  in  their  old 
age,  it  was  enacted  that  no  Nonconformist  ex-minister 
or  teacher,  of  what  denomination  soever,  who  had  not 
taken  the  oath  of  passive  obedience,  should,  "  unless  only 
in  passing  upon  the  road,"  come  within  five  miles  of  any 
city  or  town  corporate,  or  borough  sending  members  to 
Parliament,  or  within  the  same  distance  of  any  parish  or 
place  where  he  had  formerly  preached  or  taught,  under 
a  penalty  of  £40  for  every  offence.  And  what  was  this 
oath  of  passive  obedience  ?  Not  only  to  the  effect  that  it 
is  not  lawful  upon  any  pretence  whatever  to  take  arms 
against  the  King,  but  that  the  swearer  would  not  at  any 
time  endeavour  any  alteration  of  government  in  Church  or 
State.  Almost  all  the  Nonconformist  ministers  felt  that 
they  could  not  conscientiously  make  any  such  promise. 

Of  these  three  miserable  Acts,  the  first  and  the  last, 
as  they  affected  primarily  the  beneficed  clergymen  of 
the  Puritan  party,  did  not  greatly  concern  the  Quakers.1 

1  In  fact,  George  Fox's  reflections  on  the  religious  revolution  of 
St.  Bartholomew's  Day  are  almost  like  Isaiah's  song  of  triumph 
over  Babylon.  "  There  was  a  secret  hand  in  bringing  this  day 
[the  Restoration]  upon  that  hypocritical  generation  of  professors, 
who  being  got  into  power,  grew  proud  and  haughty  and  cruel 
beyond  others,  and  persecuted  the  people  of  God  without  pity. 
(I.  501.)  I  was  moved  to  write  to  them  [the  fallen  Puritans,  who 
said  '  it  was  all  on  account  of  us '  1  Did  we  ever  resist  them  ? 
Did  we  not  give  them  our  backs  to  beat,  and  our  cheeks  to  pull 
off  the  hair,  and  our  faces  to  spit  on  ?  Had  not  their  priests  that 
prompted  them  on  to  such  work,  pulled  them  with  themselves 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS 


173 


The  second  (the  Conventicle  Act)  was  the  chief  battle- 
ground on  which  the  State  came  forth  to  fight  them, 
and  on  which  they  eventually  beat  the  State.  Some  of 
the  other  Nonconformists  endeavoured  by  a  harmless 
artifice  to  evade  this  cruel  law.  When  they  came  to 
their  meetings  they  would  have  "candles  and  tobacco- 
pipes,  flagons  of  drink,  cold  meat  and  bread  and  cheese 
upon  the  table,"  and  so  when  the  officers  of  justice 
entered  the  room,  it  would  be  no  religious  conventicle, 
but  a  social  party  of  jovial  Englishmen  that  was  going 
forward.1  But  the  Quaker  would  stoop  to  no  such 
artifice.    And  his  worship,  from  its  very  simplicity  and 


into  the  ditch  ?  Why  then  would  they  say  '  It  was  all  on  account 
of  us,'  when  it  was  owing  to  themselves  and  their  priests,  their 
blind  prophets,  that  followed  their  own  spirits,  and  could  foresee 
nothing  of  these  times  and  things  that  were  coming  upon  them, 
which  we  had  long  forewarned  them  of,  as  Jeremiah  and  Christ 
had  forewarned  Jerusalem  ?  They  had  thought  to  weary  us  out 
and  undo  us,  but  they  undid  themselves."  (I.  502.)  "Many  warn- 
ings of  many  sorts  were  Friends  moved  ....  to  give  to  that 
generation,  which  they  not  only  rejected,  but  abused  Friends, 
calling  us  giddy-headed  Quakers  ;  but  God  brought  His  judg- 
ments upon  those  persecuting  priests  and  magistrates.  For  when 
the  King  came  in,  most  of  them  were  turned  out  of  their  places 
and  benefices  [St.  Bartholomew's  Day],  and  the  spoilers  were 
spoiled,  and  then  we  could  ask  them,  '  Who  were  the  giddy  heads 
now  1 '  Then  many  confessed  we  had  been  true  prophets  to  the 
nation,  and  said,  '  Had  we  cried  against  some  priests  only,  they 
should  have  liked  us  then,  but  crying  against  all  made  them 
dislike  us.'  But  now  they  saw  those  priests  which  were  then 
looked  upon  to  be  the  best  were  as  bad  as  the  rest.  For  indeed 
some  of  those  that  were  counted  the  most  eminent  were  the 
bitterest,  and  the  greatest  stirrers  up  of  the  magistrates  to  perse- 
cution ;  and  it  was  a  judgment  upon  them  to  be  denied  the  free 
liberty  of  their  consciences  when  the  King  came  in,  because  when 
they  were  uppermost,  they  would  not  have  liberty  of  conscience 
granted  to  others."    (I.  504.) 

1  See  the  description  of  these  Presbyterian  agapae  in  Fox's 
Journal,  II.  86. 


174 


GEORGE  FOX 


apparent  baldness,  was  peculiarly  hard  to  extirpate. 
There  was  no  chalice,  or  Geneva  gown,  or  hour-glass,  or 
Bible,  the  removal  of  which  would  spoil  the  service. 
Professor  Masson  has  well  described  the  perplexity  of 
the  persecutors  when  brought  face  to  face  with  "  a 
Quaker's  meeting,  where  men  and  women  were  wor- 
shipping with  their  hearts,  and  without  implements,  in 
silence  as  well  as  by  speech.  You  may  break  in  upon 
them,  hoot  at  them,  roar  at  them,  drag  them  about; 
the  meeting,  if  it  is  of  any  size,  essentially  still  goes  on 
till  all  the  component  individuals  are  murdered.  Throw 
them  out  at  the  door  in  twos  and  threes,  and  they  but 
re-enter  at  the  window,  and  quietly  resume  their  places. 
Pull  their  meeting-house  down,  and  they  re-assemble 
next  day  most  punctually  amid  the  broken  walls  and 
rafters.  Shovel  sand  or  earth  down  upon  them,  and 
there  they  still  sit,  a  sight  to  see,  musing  immovably 
among  the  rubbish.  This  is  no  description  from  fancy. 
It  was  the  actual  practice  of  the  Quakers  all  over  the 
country.  They  held  then*  meetings  regularly,  persever- 
ingly,  and  without  the  least  concealment,  keeping  the 
doors  of  their  meeting-houses  purposely  open,  that  all 
might  enter,  informers,  constables,  or  soldiers,  and  do 
whatever  they  chose.  In  fact,  the  Quakers  behaved 
magnificently.  By  their  peculiar  method  of  open  viola- 
tion of  the  law,  and  passive  resistance  only,  they  rendered 
a  service  to  the  common  cause  of  all  the  Nonconformist 
sects,  which  has  never  been  sufficiently  acknowledged. 
The  authorities  had  begun  to  fear  them  as  a  kind  of 
supernatural  folk,  and  knew  not  what  to  do  with  them 
but  cram  them  into  gaols,  and  let  them  lie  there.  In 
fact  the  gaols  in  these  days  were  less  places  of  punish- 
ment for  criminals,  than  receptacles  for  a  great  propor- 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS 


175 


tion  of  what  was  bravest  and  most  excellent  in  the 
manhood  and  womanhood  of  England." 1 

In  addition  to  these  three  Acts,  which  were  aimed  at 
all  who  dissented  from  the  worship  of  the  Church  of 
England,  one  was  passed  (May  2,  1662)  which  was 
specially  directed  against  the  Quakers.  By  this  Act, 
which  became  law  two  years  before  the  general  Conven- 
ticle Act,  it  was  provided  that  all  Quakers,  or  other 
persons  refusing  to  take  an  oath  required  by  law,  or 
maintaining  the  unlawfulness  of  oaths;  and  particularly 
all  Quakers  meeting  for  worship  to  the  number  of 
five  or  more,  should  be  fined  £5  for  the  first  offence, 
and  £10  for  the  second,  with  an  alternative  of  three 
or  six  months'  hard  labour,  and  for  the  third  offence 
should  be  banished  to  the  Plantations. 

And  yet,  notwithstanding  all  this  oppression  and 
tyranny,  notwithstanding  these  scandalous  violations 
of  the  promises  which  Charles  II.  had  made  at  Breda, 
the  hearts  of  his  Quaker  subjects  still  clung  strangely 
to  the  restored  King.  This  was  partly  because  they 
believed,  and  rightly  believed,  that  his  own  heart 
was  not  in  the  work  of  persecution.  But  beside  this, 
there  was  the  personal  charm  of  the  King's  manner, 
the  fascination  which,  good-for-nothing  fellow  that  he 
was,  he  managed  to  throw  over  all  who  came  in  contact 
with  him.  Fox  seems  to  have  felt  this  charm,  and  to 
have  been  to  some  extent  blinded  by  it.  It  is  im- 
possible to  read  the  Journal  without  feeling  that 
Charles  II.  receives  much  more  favourable  measure 
from  the  writer  than  Oliver  Cromwell ;  and  it  is  with 
a  feeling  of  something  like  amusement  that  we  find 

1  Masson's  Life  of  John  Milton  and  History  of  his  Tinw,  vi. 
387-8. 


GEORGE  FOX 


George  Fox  writing  to  the  King  on  his  accession,  not 
only  to  exhort  him  to  exercise  mercy  and  forgiveness 
towards  his  enemies  (an  admirable  piece  of  advice),  but 
also  "  to  warn  him  to  restrain  the  profaneness  and 
looseness  that  had  got  up  in  the  nation  on  his  return." 
Charles  II.  restraining  any  exhibition  of  profaneness 
and  looseness  would  indeed  have  been  an  instance  of 
"  the  devil  rebuking  sin." 

But  on  a  review  of  the  whole  position  of  the  Quakers 
at  the  time  of  the  Restoration,  and  observing  the 
persistent  bitterness  of  their  tone  towards  the  promi- 
nent members  of  the  old  Calvinistic,  Puritan  party,  one 
is  brought  to  the  conclusion  that  it  required  only  a 
very  little  gentleness  and  reasonable  consideration  for 
their  scruples,  to  have  made  of  the  new  Society  a  real 
bulwark  of  the  Stuart  throne.  They  would  have  been 
not  Royalists  only,  but  (like  William  Penn)  Jacobites 
also,  if  they  had  had  any  chance  of  developing  their 
strong  germs  of  loyal  sentiment  towards  the  throne. 
Members  of  the  Church  of  England  they  could  never 
have  been,  but  they  would  have  been  the  most  amicable 
of  dissenters  from  her  communion,  if  they  had  not 
been  harried  with  Conventicle  Acts  and  penalties  of 
Praemunire.  Only  the  blind  fury  of  the  Cavalier 
squire  and  the  Episcopalian  parson  turned  these 
peaceable  and  loyal-hearted  people  into  Hanoverian 
Whigs  and  "  political  dissenters." 

Of  this  most  unnecessary  and  ill-advised  persecution, 
from  men  in  whom  he  might  reasonably  have  hoped  to 
find  friends,  Fox  was  to  have  an  early  experience.  It 
was  probably  in  the  very  same  month  of  May  (1660), 
in  which  Charles  II.  entered  London  in  triumph,  that 
Fox  once  more  sought  the  shelter  of  hospitable  Swarth- 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS  177 


moor.  The  kindly  master  of  the  house  had  died 
nearly  two  years  previously,1  but  his  widow  and  her 
daughters  were  ready  to  give  him  whom  they  regarded 
as  their  spiritual  father  a  loving  welcome.  Before  he 
had  been  there  many  days,  the  chief  constable  and 
three  petty  constables  tramped  into  the  house  with 
a  warrant  from  Major  Porter,  Justice  of  the  Peace  and 
Mayor  of  Lancaster,  for  George  Fox's  apprehension. 
They  marched  him  off  to  Ulverston,  and  deposited  him 
for  the  night  in  the  constable's  house.  There  they  sat, 
fifteen  or  sixteen  rude,  loud-talking  men,  keeping  close 
watch  upon  their  prisoner,  and  refusing  to  allow  him 
any  communication  with  his  numerous  friends  in  Ulvers- 
ton, some  of  whom  would  gladly  have  brought  him 
provisions  for  the  night.  So  superstitious  were  these 
Lancashire  peasants  that  some  of  the  guard  went  and 
sat  in  the  chimney-corner  to  prevent  Fox  flying  away 
up  the  chimney !  They  bragged  to  one  another  about 
the  capture  they  had  effected,  as  if  it  had  been  an 
exploit  of  great  bravery.  "  I  did  not  think,"  said 
Constable  Ashburnham,  "that  a  thousand  men  could 
have  taken  this  man  prisoner."  "  Ah  ! "  said  Constable 
Mount,  a  very  wicked  man,  "  I  would  have  served 
Judge  Fell  himself  so,  if  he  had  been  alive,  and  I  had 
had  a  warrant  to  take  him."  Evidently  these  braggart 
constables  were  the  men  who  would  stick  oak-leaves  in 
their  hats  and  cry,  "  Down  with  the  Roundheads  and 
the  Rump." 

Next  morning  at  six,  Fox,  who  was  to  be  dragged  off 
to  a  neighbouring  justice,  was  putting  on  his  boots  and 
spurs,  but  the  rough  constables  pulled  off  the  spurs, 
picked  his  pocket  of  a  knife,  put  him  on  another  horse 
1  Judge  Fell  died  October  8,  1658. 

N 


178 


GEORGE  FOX 


than  his  own,  and  set  off,  attended  by  many  horsemen 
and  a  rabble  of  followers.  About  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  Ulverston,  some  Friends  with  the  Swarthmoor 
ladies  in  their  company  came  forth  to  meet  them.  The 
stupid  horsemen  gathered  round  him  in  mad  rage  and 
fury,  crying  out,  "  Will  they  rescue  him  ?  will  they 
rescue  him  ?  "  Upon  this  Fox  said,  "  Here  is  my  hair  ; 
here  is  my  back  ;  here  are  my  cheeks ;  strike  me ! " 
With  these  words  their  anger  was  a  little  assuaged. 
Then  they  brought  a  little  horse,  and  clumsily  lifting 
Fox,  set  him  upon  it  behind  the  saddle,  with  nothing 
to  hold  on  by,  and  led  the  horse  by  the  halter.  When 
they  had  got  some  distance  out  of  the  town,  says  Fox, 
"  they  beat  the  little  horse,  and  made  him  kick  and 
gallop;  whereupon  I  slipped  off  him,  and  told  them 
'  They  should  not  abuse  the  creature.'  They  were 
much  enraged  at  my  getting  off,  and  took  me  by 
the  legs  and  feet  and  set  me  upon  the  same  horse 
behind  the  saddle  again,  and  so  led  it  about  two  miles 
till  they  came  to  a  great  water.  By  this  time  my  own 
horse  was  come  to  us,  and  the  water  being  deep,  and 
their  little  horse  scarce  able  to  carry  me  through,  they 
let  me  get  upon  my  own,  through  the  persuasion  of 
some  of  their  own  company,  leading  him  through  the 
water.  One  wicked  fellow  kneeled  down,  and  lifting 
up  his  hands,  blessed  God  that  I  was  taken.  When  I 
was  come  over  the  sands,  I  told  them  I  heard  I  had 
liberty  to  choose  what  justice  I  would  go  before ;  but 
Mount  and  the  other  constables  cried,  '  No,  I  should 
not.'  Then  they  led  me  to  Lancaster,  about  fourteen 
miles,  and  a  great  triumph  they  thought  to  have  had  ; 
but  as  they  led  me  I  was  moved  to  sing  praises  unto 
the  Lord  in  His  triumphing  power  over  all." 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS  179 


When  Fox  was  come  to  Lancaster,  the  spirits  of  the 
people  being,  as  he  says,  "  mightily  up,"  in  other  words 
much  excited,  he  stood  and  looked  earnestly  upon  them, 
and  they  cried,  "  Look  at  his  eyes ! "  This  is  one  of 
many  indications  that  there  was  something  peculiarly 
piercing  and  even  awful  in  the  glance  of  Fox's  eyes 
when  he  was  in  one  of  his  high-wrought  moods. 

To  tell  the  story  of  Fox's  examination  before  "  Justice 
Porter"  would  be  to  repeat  much  of  what  has  been 
already  said  as  to  previous  examinations.  Enough  that 
he  was  committed  to  prison,  and  put  in  the  "  Dark 
House "  in  Lancaster  Castle,  a  miserable  dungeon 
evidently,  but  not  so  horribly  filthy  as  Doomsdale  at 
Launceston.  The  head-gaoler  seems  to  have  been  a 
reasonable  man,  but  the  under-gaoler  was  rude  and 
cruel,  and  often  would  let  him  have  no  food  but  such 
as  could  be  pushed  in  to  him  under  the  door. 

However,  Fox's  imprisonment  this  time  was  not  so 
long  as  on  some  previous  occasions,  lasting  as  it  did 
only  twenty  weeks,  from  June  3  to  October  25,  1660; 
and  these  twenty  weeks  included  a  journey  up  to 
London  to  plead  for  himself  in  the  Court  of  King's 
Bench.  Two  causes  combined  to  produce  this  com- 
paratively early  liberation — the  courage  of  Margaret 
Fell,  and  the  cowardice  of  "Justice  Porter."  The 
brave  lady  of  Swarthmoor  put  forth  a  spirited  protest 
"  to  all  magistrates,  concerning  the  wrongful  taking  up 
and  imprisoning  of  George  Fox  at  Lancaster."  And 
not  only  so,  but  she  went  up  to  London  in  company 
with  a  Friend  named  Ann  Curtis  of  Reading,  whose 
father,  when  Sheriff  of  Bristol,  had  been  hung  before 
his  own  door  for  engaging  in  a  Royalist  conspiracy.1 

1  The  person  here  alluded  to  was  no  doubt  Robert  Yeamans, 


180 


GEORGE  FOX 


Such  intercession  as  this  the  newly-returned  King  could 
not  disregard,  and  he  ordered  the  issue  of  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus,  which  resulted  in  George  Fox's  before- 
mentioned  journey  to  London,  and  appearance  before 
the  Court  of  King's  Bench.  True,  "Justice  Porter" 
went  also,  with  no  little  bounce  and  swagger,  to 
London,  declaring  "  that  he  would  meet  Mistress  Fell 
in  the  gap."  But  when  he  got  there  he  met  some  old 
Cavaliers  whose  houses  he  had  plundered  when  he  was 
a  zealous  Parliamentarian,  and  heard  from  them  some 
disagreeable  truths.  Fox  himself  also  wrote  him  a 
letter,  in  which  he  reminded  him  of  stout  words  which 
he  had  used  in  old  times  against  those  that  favoured  the 
King,  declaring  that  he  would  leave  them  neither  dog 
nor  cat  if  they  did  not  bring  him  provision  to  Lancaster 
Castle.  He  asked  him  also,  "  Whose  great  buck's  horns 
those  were  that  were  in  his  house,  and  where  he  had 
both  them  and  the  wainscot  from,  that  he  ceiled  his 
house  withal  ?  Had  he  them  not  from  Hornby  Castle  ? " 
These  allusions  were  too  painful  to  a  man  who  was 
only  too  anxious  to  obey  the  Apostolic  precept  about 
"  forgetting  the  things  that  were  behind."  He  quickly 
had  enough  of  the  Court,  and  returned  into  the 
country. 

It  was  during  this  interval  of  Fox's  detention  in 
London  that  he  witnessed  the  disgusting  sight  of  the 
burning  of  the  disentombed  bodies  of  the  dead  regicides. 
The  trial  of  the  living  regicides  was  still  going  forward, 
and  when  Fox  was  taken  to  the  judge's  chambers  for 
an  examination  into  his  case,  Sir  Thomas  Mallet,  who 

Sheriff  of  Bristol  in  1641-2,  who  in  1643  was  hung  opposite  to 
his  house  in  Wine  Street  for  conspiring  to  deliver  up  the  city  to 
Prince  Rupert. 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS  181 


was  the  judge  chosen,  was  putting  on  his  red  gown  in 
order  to  go  into  court  and  sit  on  the  trial  of  some  of 
these  men.  He  was  "  very  peevish  and  froward " — 
perhaps,  though  a  staunch  Royalist,  he  did  not  like 
the  work  on  which  he  was  engaged — and  told  Fox  he 
might  come  another  time.  Eventually  the  trial  took 
place  before  (1)  the  Chief  Justice  Sir  Robert  Foster,  a 
harsh,  narrow,  black-letter  lawyer,  who  had  taken  an 
active  part  in  the  disgraceful  trial  of  Sir  Harry  Vane ; 
(2)  Judge  Twisden,  a  learned  lawyer  and  honest  man, 
but  extremely  passionate ;  and  (3)  the  above-mentioned 
Judge  Mallet.  The  trial  was  a  pretty  fair  one,  though 
Judge  Twisden  lost  his  temper,  and  tried  to  scold  Fox, 
as  a  year  later  he  scolded  John  Bunyan ;  but  Fox 
appealed,  not  unsuccessfully,  to  Foster  and  Mallet  for 
protection.  The  critical  point  of  the  trial  was  the 
appearance  of  a  Gentleman  of  the  Bedchamber  named 
Marsh,  who  signified  to  the  judges  the  King's  pleasure 
"  that  Fox  should  be  set  at  liberty,  seeing  no  accuser 
came  up  against  him."  By  this  time  apparently  Major 
Porter  had  returned  crestfallen  to  his  house  at  Lan- 
caster. Accordingly  Sir  Thomas  Mallet  drew  up  an 
order  for  the  prisoner's  release,  and  on  October  25, 
1660,  Fox  was  once  more  a  free  man. 

The  foolish  outbreak  of  Venner  and  the  Fifth 
Monarchy  men  (January  6,  1661)  seems  to  have  been 
a  particularly  feeble  and  frantic  affair,  one  by  which 
no  strong  government  need  have  been  troubled  for  an 
hour;  yet  it  was  made,  most  unjustly,  a  pretext  for 
practically  revoking  all  the  promises  of  toleration  con- 
tained in  the  King's  Declaration  from  Breda.  Fox 
himself  was  in  London  on  the  memorable  Sunday 
night  when  this  mad  rush  of  the  Fifth  Monarchy  men 


182 


GEORGE  FOX 


set  all  Loudon  in  an  uproar.  He  heard  the  midnight 
cry,  "  Arm !  arm ! "  and  went  with  early  morning 
through  Whitehall  to  Pall  Mall,  where  there  was  a 
meeting  of  Friends,  and  near  which  he  had,  it  seems, 
a  temporary  lodging.  He  stayed  here  several  days, 
often  molested  by  the  soldiers,  who  were  bursting 
roughly  into  the  houses  of  the  citizens  searching  for 
arms.  Probably  he  would  have  been  again  committed 
to  prison,  or  cut  down  by  the  sword  of  some  hot-headed 
trooper,  had  not  the  friendly  courtier,  whom  he  calls 
"Esquire  Marsh,"  actually  come  and  taken  up  his 
quarters  in  Fox's  lodging  in  order  to  protect  him,  and 
obtained  his  liberation  when  the  soldiers  took  him  into 
temporary  arrest. 

Though  Fox  was  earnest  in  his  appeals  to  Friends 
not  to  get  mixed  up  in  the  movements  of  the  Fifth 
Monarchy  fanatics,  and  addressed  paper  after  paper  to 
the  Government  to  assure  it  of  the  absolute  peace- 
ableness  of  his  followers,  this  outbreak  was  made  the 
pretext  for  a  raid  of  exceptional  severity  upon  the 
Quakers.  One  such  paper,  addressed  to  the  King, 
probably  early  in  1662,  gives  us  some  much-desired 
statistics  as  to  the  extent  of  the  persecution.  The 
results  are  these.  "  Under  the  changeable  powers 
before  thee  "  (as  Fox  styles  the  Commonwealth  and  the 
Protectorate),  3173  Friends  had  been  arrested  and 
imprisoned.  Of  these  32  had  died  in  prison,  73  were 
still  in  confinement  under  process  issued  in  the  name 
of  the  Commonwealth,  the  rest  had  been  liberated 
before  or  at  the  Restoration.  But  that  was  the  account 
of  a  persecution  spreading  over  something  like  ten 
years  (1650 — 1660).  Now  in  the  space  of  less  than 
two  years  from  King  Charles's  accession  there  had 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS  183 


been  imprisoned  in  his  name,  and  by  those  who 
thought  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  him,  3068 
persons.  "  Besides  this,  our  meetings  are  daily  broken 
up  by  men  with  clubs  and  arms,  though  we  meet 
peaceably  according  to  the  practice  of  God's  people  in 
the  primitive  times,  and  our  friends  are  thrown  into 
waters  and  trod  upon,  till  the  very  blood  gushes  out 
of  them,  the  number  of  which  abuses  can  hardly  be 
uttered." 

The  appeal  to  Charles  II.  was  not  altogether  in  vain. 
Though  his  was  certainly  not  one  of  the  "tender  con- 
sciences "  about  which  so  much  was  said,  he  probably 
felt  both  the  shame  and  the  impolicy  of  flagrantly 
violating  the  compact  made  at  Breda.  Moreover,  being 
himself  a  Roman  Catholic  at  heart,  he  was  conscious 
of  a  certain  languid  desire  to  obtain  for  his  oppressed 
brother  Romanists  that  little  measure  of  toleration 
which,  as  he  knew,  could  only  be  obtained  by  jumbling 
up  their  case  with  that  of  the  Protestant  Noncon- 
formists. Accordingly,  on  December  26,  1662,  he  put 
forth  a  Declaration,  in  which,  reminding  himself  of  his 
promises  from  Breda,  he  "  renewed  to  his  subjects  con- 
cerned in  those  promises  of  indulgence,  the  assurance 
that  he  would  make  it  his  especial  care,  without 
invading  the  freedom  of  Parliament,  to  incline  their 
wisdom  to  join  with  him  in  making  some  Act  for  the 
relief  of  those,  who  living  peaceably  did  not  conform 
to  the  Church  of  England,  through  scruple  or  tender- 
ness of  misguided  conscience."  Unfortunately  the 
religious  rancour  of  the  Cavalier  Parliament,  whose 
members  in  the  abused  name  of  the  Christian  religion 
were  indulging  all  those  passions  of  hatred  and  revenge 
which  Christ  came  to  banish  from  the  earth,  would  not 


184 


GEOEGE  FOX 


allow  the  King  to  frame  any  effectual  Toleration  Act, 
but  it  was  something  that  the  weight  of  his  name 
should  thus  be  thrown  on  the  side  of  mercy.  It  is 
probably  not  a  mere  coincidence  that  Fox's  imprison- 
ment (the  sixth  of  the  series),  which  took  place  at 
Leicester  this  year,  was  of  exceptionally  short  duration. 
It  was  severe  enough  while  it  lasted,  for  the  gaoler  was 
"  a  very  wicked,  cruel  man,"  but  some  little  mitigation 
was  obtained  by  appealing  to  the  avarice  of  his  wife, 
who  though  lame,  and  almost  confined  to  her  chair, 
was  undoubted  master,  and  "  would  beat  her  husband 
with  her  crutch  "  when  he  came  within  her  reach,  if  he 
did  not  do  as  she  would  have  him.  However,  when  the 
case  came  on  for  trial,  it  was  clearly  proved  that  no 
offence  even  against  the  Conventicle  Act  had  at  the 
time  specified  in  the  indictment  been  committed  by 
Fox  and  his  friends,  and  they  were  liberated  without 
the  usual  device  of  requiring  them  to  take  the  oaths  of 
allegiance  and  supremacy. 

But  the  days  of  fairness  and  moderation  were  soon 
over.  Charles  was  too  indolent,  or  too  much  hampered 
by  his  own  extravagance,  to  make  any  sustained  effort 
on  behalf  of  toleration.  George  Fox's  next  imprison- 
ment was  the  longest,  though  not  perhaps  the  most 
cruel  of  any,  and  lasted  for  nearly  three  years,  from 
the  beginning  of  1664  to  near  the  end  of  1666.  The 
chief  actors  in  this  persecution  were  no  doubtful 
Royalists  (such  as  Justice  Porter),  but  two  staunch 
Westmoreland  Cavaliers,  Colonel  Kirkby  of  Kirkby 
Hall,  and  his  cousin  Daniel  Fleming  (afterwards  Sir 
Daniel  Fleming)  of  Kydal  Hall. 

In  this  instance  we  have  the  opportunity,  so  rarely 
granted  us,  of  hearing  both  sides  of  the  question,  of 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS  185 


knowing  what  both  persecutors  and  persecuted  thought 
of  one  another.  This  opportunity  is  afforded  us  by  the 
publication  of  an  unusually  rich  collection  of  manu- 
scripts belonging  to  the  Fleming  family.1  Here  we 
see  Daniel  Fleming  of  Rydal,  one  of  a  numerous  band 
of  cousins,  Curwens,  Lawsons,  and  so  on,  to  which 
Colonel  Kirkby  also  belongs.  All  these  Cumberland 
and  Westmoreland  squires  are  jubilant  over  the  King's 
return,  but  they  rejoice  with  trembling.  They  are 
perpetually  hearing  of  plots  and  rebellions ;  Colonel 
Lambert  is  said  to  have  escaped  from  prison,  and  to 
be  marching  from  Scotland  with  30,000  men;  the 
"  fanatics,"  as  they  call  all  the  Puritan  Nonconformists, 
are  astir ;  till  the  fanatics  are  suppressed  there  will  be 
no  peaceable  enjoyment  of  their  estates  by  the  West- 
moreland lakes  for  squires  loyal  to  Church  and  King. 
And  with  these  alarms,  as  we  can  now  see,  the  name 
of  the  Quaker  sect  was  honestly,  but  most  ignorantly 
connected.  Thus,  if  these  rural  magistrates  were,  as 
they  certainly  seem  to  have  been,  both  cruel  and  un- 
just in  their  magisterial  proceedings  against  the  Friends, 
their  conduct  is  to  be  accounted  for  not  merely  by 
religious  bigotry  and  arrogant  Episcopalian  scorn  of 
Puritan  sectaries,  but  also  by  that  fruitful  parent  of 
cruelty,  fear. 

Among  these  persecuting  squires  we  find  with  regret 
Daniel  Fleming  of  Rydal  taking  the  lead.  That  name, 
Rydal,  brings  to  our  minds  Wordsworthian  calm  and 
repose,  and  a  remembrance  of  the  soothing  ministra- 
tions of  Nature.  Yet  from  Rydal  Hall,  in  the  years 
immediately   following  the   Restoration,   went  forth 

1  Historical  Manuscripts  Commission  :  Twelfth  Report.  Ap- 
pendix, Part  vii. 


186 


GEORGE  FOX 


many  a  warrant  that  broke  up  the  happiness  of  an 
honest  dalesman's  home,  sending  the  father  or  the 
mother  of  the  family  to  endure  the  foulness  of  a  pesti- 
lential prison,  for  no  crime  but  that  of  worshipping 
God  according  to  their  conscience.  "Oh,  fye,  Justice 
Fleming,"  was  the  remonstrance  of  William  Wilson  of 
Stangend,  "  that  ever  this  report  should  be  sounded  in 
our  ears,  that  within  thy  liberties  such  plundering 
should  be  amongst  thy  neighbours.  We  never  had  the 
like  in  our  parish  since  the  Scots  was  amongst  us,  nor 
never  expected  that  our  own  justices  should  have  made 
such  work,  as  set  men  on  robbing  and  spoiling  true 
men's  goods,  who  dare  not  spoil  themselves,  nor  do 
any  hurt  to  any  man." 1 

George  Fox  also  wrote  to  him,  "  Oh  Justice  Fleming, 
dost  thou  not  hear  the  cry  of  the  widows  and  the  cry 
of  the  fatherless,  who  were  made  so  through  perse- 
cution ?  .  .  .  One  more  is  dead  whom  thou  sent  to 
prison,  having  left  five  children,  both  fatherless  and 
motherless.  .  .  .  Again,  Justice  Fleming,  consider, 
when  John  Stubbs  was  before  thee,  having  a  wife  and 
four  small  children,  and  little  to  live  on  but  what  they 
honestly  got  by  their  own  diligence,  as  soon  as  he 
appeared  thou  criedst  out,  '  Put  the  oath  to  that  man.' 
And  when  he  confessed  that  he  was  but  a  poor  man 
thou  hadst  no  regard,  but  cast  away  pity,  not  hearing 
what  he  would  say.  .  .  .  Consider  also  thy  poor  neigh- 
bour William  Wilson'  [the  writer  of  the  previous  letter], 
'  who  was  known  to  all  the  parish  and  neighbours  to  be 
an  industrious  man,  and  careful  to  maintain  his  wife 
and  children,  yet  had  little  but  what  he  had  got  with 
his  hands  in  diligence  and  travels  to  supply  himself. 
1  Fleming  MSS.  580. 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS  187 


How  should  his  wife  maintain  her  children,  when  thou 
hast  cast  her  husband  into  prison,  and  thereby  made 
him  incapable  of  working  for  them  ? " 

To  all  such  appeals  no  doubt  the  Justice  would  have 
answered,  that  these  poor  people  should  have  thought 
about  wife  and  children  before  venturing  to  break  the 
Act  of  1662  against  Quakers'  meetings.  It  is  true  that 
the  right  to  "  obey  God  rather  than  men  "  was  once 
claimed  by  some  Galilean  fishermen,  but  it  was  out- 
rageous that  it  should  be  asked  for  by  the  dalesmen  of 
Westmoreland. 

What  adds  to  our  regret  in  having  to  leave  the  lord 
of  Rydal  pilloried  as  a  tyrant  and  persecutor  is,  that  he 
was  evidently  a  man  of  some  little  culture,  an  antiquary 
in  his  way,  a  friend  of  Sir  William  Dugdale's,  and  a 
buyer  of  his  books.1  But  he  had  made  up  his  mind 
that  the  "rabble  of  fanaticks"  who  met  at  Mrs.  Fell's 
house  must  be  suppressed.  He  looked  upon  the  Quakers 
as  "vermin,"  and  when  he  and  his  brother  squires  were 
once  in  full  cry  after  their  prey,  they  showed  more  of 
the  ardour  of  the  huntsman  than  of  the  patient  impar- 
tiality of  the  judge. 

Thus  then  it  was  that  towards  the  end  of  1663  the 
squirearchy  of  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland  began 
to  bestir  themselves  for  the  more  effectual  suppression 
of  the  Quaker  teachers.  In  this  work  Fleming  was 
the  most  active.  In  his  report  to  Sir  Henry  Bennet,2 
the  Secretary  of  State,  he  said,  "  it  was  necessary  to 
spurr  on  the  majestrates  of  Kendal  to  the  good  work  of 

1  It  is  amusing  to  find  Daniel  Fleming's  two  sisters  Frances 
and  Bridget  writing  to  him  (February  21,  1662)  to  thank  him 
for  making  choice  of  them  for  his  valentines,  and  to  ask  him  for 
some  account  of  "  Don  Qizxote  and  Sankca  Pankca."  Fleming 
MSS.  477.)  2  Afterwards  Lord  Arlington. 


188 


GEORGE  FOX 


the  prosecution  of  the  Quakers."  1  At  Quarter  Sessions 
at  Kendal  he  offered  a  reward  of  £5  to  any  one  who 
would  apprehend  George  Fox;  and  so  great  was  his 
zeal,  that  his  cousin  and  fellow-persecutor  Kirkby  said 
that  there  was  not  such  a  man  as  Justice  Fleming  in 
all  those  parts ;  his  whole  time  was  taken  up  with  the 
Quakers ;  he  had  holed  the  Fox  and  staid  his  Ham- 
brough  Quaker  from  travelling.2 

Yet  outwardly  Colonel  Kirkby  still  preserved  some 
appearance  of  civility  to  the  Friends.  On  some  rumour 
of  warrants  being  issued  for  his  apprehension  Fox,  as 
his  manner  was,  determined  to  march  into  the  lion's 
den,  and  started  off  for  a  five-miles  walk  to  Kirkby 
Hall.  He  found  the  Hall  full  of  the  Flemings  and 
others  of  the  cousinry,  who  had  come  to  take  leave  of 
the  Colonel  (as  they  might  now  take  leave  of  one  going 
to  India)  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  to  take  his  seat 
in  Parliament.  For  some  time  Fox  sat  in  the  parlour 
among  the  uncongenial  squires,  but  they  said  little  to 
him  nor  he  much  to  them.  When  the  Colonel  entered, 
Fox  said  that,  having  heard  of  Kirkby's  desire  to  arrest 
him,  he  had  come  to  visit  him  and  hear  what  he  had  to 
say  against  him.  Said  Kirkby  before  all  the  company, 
"  As  I  am  a  gentleman  I  have  nothing  against  you. 
But  Mistress  Fell  must  not  keep  great  meetings  at 
her  house,  for  they  meet  contrary  to  the  Act."  Fox 
argued  that  the  Act  was  meant  for  turbulent  and 
seditious  persons,  not  for  those  who  met  at  Margaret 
Fell's  house,  the  Colonel's  own  neighbours,  whom  he 
well  knew  to  be  peaceable  people.  Kirkby  repeated 
that  he  had  nothing  against  Fox,  and  shook  him  by  the 

1  Fleming  MSS.  601. 
3  Ibid.  580.    I  cannot  explain  the  last  allusion. 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS  189 


hand  at  parting ;  he  then  went  up  to  Westminster  to 
take  his  place  in  the  Cavalier  Parliament. 

Scarcely  had  Kirk  by  departed  when  a  private  meeting 
of  Justices  and  Deputy-Lieutenants  was  held  at  Justice 
Preston's  house,  Holker  Hall,  to  concert  measures  for 
the  suppression  of  the  Quakers.  A  warrant  was  issued, 
and  an  officer  came  with  sword  and  pistols  to  arrest 
Fox.  He  had  been  on  the  point  of  leaving  that  part 
of  England  for  a  time,  but  fearing  that  the  brunt  of 
the  persecution  would  fall  upon  his  followers  if  he  were 
absent,  he  did  not  avail  himself  of  an  opportunity  to 
escape,  but  went  with  the  officer  to  Holker  Hall,  and 
his  faithful  ally  Margaret  Fell  accompanied  him. 

When  they  were  brought  into  the  justice-room,  they 
found  Justices  Preston  and  Kawlinson,  both  members 
of  the  Fleming  kinship,1  besides  many  more,  unknown 
to  Fox.  It  was  rather  a  strange  thing  that  among 
these  magistrates  who  were  going  to  put  the  strict 
letter  of  the  law  in  force  against  a  Protestant  Noncon- 
formist, there  was  a  certain  Sir  George  Middleton,  who 
as  a  Papist  and  a  recusant  was  the  object  of  laws  almost 
as  fierce  and  as  intolerant  as  those  that  were  aimed 
against  the  Quakers.  The  examination  turned  chiefly 
on  "  the  plot,"  that  is  apparently  the  so-called  insur- 
rection of  Farnley  Wood  in  Yorkshire,  which  broke 
out,  or  rather  which  made  a  feeble  puff  of  smoke,  in 
the  autumn  of  1663,  and  which  was  so  futile  and  so 
obviously  doomed  to  failure  that  many  persons  believed 
it  to  have  been  no  genuine  plot  at  all,  but  a  "  trepan," 
as  it  was  called,  prepared  by  the  agents  provocateurs  of 
the  Duke  of  Buckingham.  However,  against  this  plot, 
whatever  was  its  reality,  Fox  had  put  forth  one  of  his 
1  See  Fleming  MSS.  3143,  3144,  and  p.  380. 


190 


GEORGE  FOX 


"  papers,"  urging  his  followers  to  have  nothing  to  do 
with  any  such  revolutionary  proceedings,  but  the 
magistrates  were  not  ashamed  to  use  the  monstrous 
argument  that  he  must  have  had  a  guilty  know- 
ledge of  the  plot,  otherwise  he  could  not  have  written 
against  it. 

The  evidence,  however,  was  beginning  to  prove  in- 
sufficient, and  then  the  ready  expedient  of  tendering 
the  oath  was  resorted  to.  Middleton,  who  had  already 
had  an  altercation  with  Fox,  in  which  he  had  got  the 
worst  of  it,  cried  out,  "  Bring  the  book,  and  put  the 
oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy  to  him."  The  oaths 
were  those  which  he  himself,  as  a  Papist,  had  refused 
to  take  and  which  were  meant  for  him,  and  not  for  the 
Puritan  sectaries.  It  certainly  must  have  required  a 
good  deal  of  modest  assurance  on  the  part  of  a  magis- 
trate, himself  a  recusant,  to  press  that  argument 
against  his  enemy.  Fox  was  ready  with  the  inevitable 
tu  qtcoque ;  some  of  Middleton's  brother  magistrates 
seem  to  have  felt  the  iniquity  of  the  proceeding,  and 
eventually,  instead  of  making  out  the  mittimus  and 
sending  him  at  once  to  Lancaster  Gaol,  they  ordered 
Fox  to  appear  at  the  next  Quarter  Sessions  at  Lancaster, 
and  meanwhile  he  was  allowed  to  return  quietly  with 
Margaret  Fell  to  Swarthmoor. 

During  the  short  respite  thus  obtained,  of  course  the 
meetings  at  Swarthmoor  went  on  as  of  old.  One  day 
(probably  a  Sunday)  Colonel  Kirkby,  having  returned 
from  Westminster,  appeared  with  the  constables  at  his 
heels.  He  walked  in  to  where  the  Friends  were  sitting 
in  silence,  and  "How  now,  Mr.  Fox!"  he  cried;  "you 
have  a  fine  company  here."  "  Yes,"  said  Fox,  "  we 
meet  to  wait  upon  the  Lord."    Kirkby  then  began  to 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS  191 


take  down  the  names  of  Friends,  and  if  any  did  not 
readily  tell  him  their  names,  he  committed  them  into 
the  constables'  hands,  and  declared  that  they  should  go 
to  prison.  The  constables  were  unw  illing  to  take  them 
without  a  warrant,  upon  which  the  fuming  magistrate 
"  threatened  to  set  the  constables  also  by  the  heels,  but 
the  men  knew  the  law  better  than  their  master,  and 
one  of  them  told  him,  he  could  keep  them  so  long  as 
they  were  in  his  presence,  but  after  he  was  gone  he 
could  not  keep  them  without  a  warrant." 

Now  began  a  tedious  and  evidently  much  bungled 
judicial  campaign  against  Fox,  in  which  the  faithful 
Margaret  was  also  included.  The  Quarter  Sessions  at 
Lancaster,  January  11,  1664,  the  Assizes  at  the  same 
city  in  March  and  August  of  the  same  year,  and  in 
March  1665,  were  successive  stages  of  the  affair.  During 
all  this  time  Fox  was  kept  in  durance  at  Lancaster 
Castle,  for  Fleming,  Rawlinson,  and  the  other  Justices 
at  the  Quarter  Sessions,  had  committed  him  to  prison 
for  not  taking  the  prescribed  oaths,  thus  purposely 
laying  the  foundation  for  the  much  more  serious  pro- 
cedure which  was  to  be  put  in  operation  before  the 
Judges  of  Assize. 

This  procedure  was  none  other  than  the  invocation 
of  the  terrible  penalty  of  Praemunire  on  George  Fox, 
and  on  Margaret  Fell  likewise.  This  penalty,  at  first 
attached  by  Plantagenet  kings  to  ecclesiastics  who  were 
trying  to  override  the  royal  prerogative  by  appeals  to 
Rome,  caused  the  offender  "  to  be  out  of  the  king's 
protection,  to  be  attached  in  his  body,  to  lose  his  lands, 
tenements,  and  chattels."  After  the  Reformation  this 
old  penalty  was  sharpened  up  and  applied  with  remorse- 
less severity  to  all  adherents  of  the  old  religion  who 


192 


GEORGE  FOX 


should  receive  or  publish  bulls  from  Rome,  bring  in  or 
receive  to  wear  an  Agmis  Dei,  or  send  relief  to  a  Jesuit 
beyond  sea.  By  a  statute  passed  in  the  third  year  of 
James  I.,  in  the  first  spasm  of  terror  caused  by  the 
discovery  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot,  it  was  enacted  that 
if  any  person  above  eighteen,  being  not  noble,  should 
refuse  the  oath  of  allegiance 1  when  tendered  by  a 
bishop  or  by  the  Justices  of  the  Peace  at  their  Quarter 
Sessions,  such  person  should  be  liable  to  the  penalties 
of  a  Praemunire,?  and  these  penalties  as  explained  and 
expanded  by  the  black-letter  lawyers  amounted  to 
confiscation  of  all  property  real  and  personal,  to  loss 
of  the  king's  protection,  and  to  perpetual  imprisonment 
during  the  king's  pleasure. 

Now,  with  malicious  ingenuity,  the  lawyers  and 
magistrates  of  the  Restoration  discovered  that  this 
dreaded  penalty  of  Praemunire,  invented  and  perfected 
solely  as  a  weapon  of  defence  against  the  wide-reaching 
arm  of  Rome,  might  be  used  to  rid  themselves  of  a 
much  humbler  enemy,  the  troublesome  and  disrespectful 
Quaker.  It  was  true  that  he  was  utterly  at  variance 
with  the  men  against  whom  all  that  array  of  statutes 
had  been  aimed ;  true  that  if  he  might  only  have  sub- 
stituted a  solemn  promise  for  an  oath,  he  would  have 
promised,  and  have  kept  as  true  allegiance  to  the  re- 
stored King  as  the  most  devout  preacher  of  Divine  Right 
could  desire.  Still  the  Act  said — "  If  any  person  not 
noble,  and  above  eighteen,  shall  refuse  the  oath  of 
allegiance."  The  Quakers  would  refuse  that  and  every 
other  oath.  Therefore  they  could  be  deprived  of  every 
penny  of  their  property,  and  shut  up  in  prison  for  the 

1  The  oath  of  supremacy  is  not  mentioned  in  this  statute. 

2  See  Gardiner,  History  of  England,  i.  288  (Ed.  1883). 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS  193 


rest  of  their  natural  lives,  if  the  King  would  only  consent 
so  to  prolong  their  captivity.  And  all  this  was  done 
in  the  name  of  religion.  "  Shall  the  throne  of  iniquity 
have  fellowship  with  thee,  which  frameth  mischief 
by  a  law  ?  " 

The  judges  who  came  on  the  Northern  Circuit  at 
the  three  before-mentioned  Assizes,  were  Twisden  and 
Turner,  and  by  one  or  other  of  these  Fox  was  suc- 
cessively tried.    We  have  already  seen  something  of 
Judge  Twisden's  little  infirmities  of  temper,  and  there 
was  an  amusing  illustration  of  these  in  the  trial  at  the 
March  Assizes  of  1664.    When  the  judge  pressed  him 
to  swear,  Fox  pleaded  the  King's  Declaration  from 
Breda,  in  which  he  said  that  no  man  should  be  called 
in  question  for  matters  of  religion  so  long  as  he  lived 
peaceably.     "  If  thou  ownest  the  King,"  said  Fox, 
"  why  dost  thou  call  me  into  question,  and  put  me  upon 
taking  an  oath,  which  is  a  matter  of  religion,  seeing 
neither  thou  nor  any  one  else  can  charge  me  with 
unpeaceable  living  ?  "    "  Upon  this  he  was  moved,  and 
looking  angrily  at  me  said,  '  Sirrah  !  will  you  swear  ? ' 
I  told  him  I  was  none  of  his  sirrahs  ;  I  was  a  Christian  ; 
and  for  him,  an  old  man  and  a  judge,  to  sit  there  and 
give  nicknames  to  his  prisoners,  it  did  not  become 
either  his  grey  hairs  or  his  office.    '  Well,'  said  he,  '  I 
am  a  Christian  too.'    '  Then  do  Christian  works,'  said  I. 
'  Sirrah  ! '  said  he,  '  thou  thinkest  to  frighten  me  with 
thy  words.'    Then  catching  himself  and  looking  aside, 
he  said,  '  Hark,  I  am  using  the  word  [sirrah]  again,' 
and  so  checked  himself.    I  said,  '  I  spoke  to  thee  in 
love ;  for  that  language  did  not  become  thee,  a  judge. 
Thou  oughtest  to  instruct  a  prisoner  in  the  law,  if  he 
were  ignorant  and  out  of  the  way.'    '  And  I  speak  in 

o 


194 


GEORGE  FOX 


love  to  thee  too,'  he  said.  '  But/  said  I,  '  love  gives 
no  nicknames.'  Then  he  roused  himself  and  said,  '  I 
will  not  be  afraid  of  thee,  George  Fox ;  thou  speakest 
so  loud,  thy  voice  drowns  mine  and  the  court's ;  I  must 
call  for  three  or  four  criers  to  drown  thy  voice ;  thou 
hast  good  lungs.'  '  I  am  a  prisoner  here,'  said  I,  '  for 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ's  sake;  for  His  sake  do  I  suffer, 
for  Him  do  I  stand  this  day;  and  if  my  voice  were  five 
times  louder,  I  should  lift  it  up  and  sound  it  for  Christ's 
sake,  for  whose  cause  I  stand  this  day  before  your 
judgement-seat  in  obedience  to  Christ,  who  commands 
not  to  swear;  before  whose  judgement-seat  you  must 
all  be  brought,  and  must  give  an  account.' "  The 
judge,  in  answer  to  Fox's  repeated  attempts  to  draw 
him  into  a  discussion  as  to  the  meaning  of  Christ's 
command  not  to  swear,  answered  that  he  was  a  servant 
of  the  King,  sent  there  not  to  dispute  with  any  one, 
but  to  put  the  laws  in  execution,  insisted  on  tendering 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Fox,  and  on  his  refusal  to 
take  it  ordered  him  off  to  prison,  to  be  kept  till  the 
next  Assizes.  Margaret  Fell's  case  was  dealt  with  in  a 
similar  manner. 

In  the  interval  between  this  and  his  next  appearance 
in  court,  Fox  employed  part  of  the  long  leisure  of  the 
prison  in  writing  a  paper  to  all  judges  and  other 
magistrates  who  professed  themselves  to  be  Christians, 
arguing  against  the  custom  then  far  too  prevalent, 
of  addressing  abusive  language  from  the  bench  to  the 
prisoners  in  the  dock.  According  to  his  usual  practice, 
he  draws  all  his  arguments  from  the  Bible.  Joshua 
said  to  the  offending  Achan,  not  "  Sirrah !  you  rascal, 
knave,  and  rogue!"  but,  "My  son:  give  glory  to  the 
God  of  Israel."  "  Even  Nebuchadnezzar  called  Shadrach, 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS 


195 


Meshach,  and  Abednego  by  their  names,  not  adding  any 
opprobrious  epithets  ;  and  shamefully  as  Paul  and  Silas 
were  entreated  at  Philippi,  at  least  they  were  called 
'  men,'  and  not  '  sirrahs,  rogues,  and  knaves '  by  the 
magistrates." 

The  clerk  of  the  magistrates  at  Lancaster  must  have 
done  his  work  with  disgraceful  carelessness,  for  Fox 
was  able  at  the  August  Assizes  to  point  out  several 
blunders  as  to  dates  and  the  like,  both  in  his  and  in 
Margaret  Fell's  indictments,  but  apparently  these  ad- 
mitted errors  only  procured  the  delay  of  his  sentence 
till  the  next  Assizes,  which  were  held  on  March  16, 
1665.  The  indictment,  according  to  Fox's  account, 
was  still  but  a  bungled  business,  but  the  judge  carried 
matters  through  with  a  high  hand ;  the  undoubted  fact 
that  the  prisoners  had  refused  the  oath  of  allegiance 
was  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  jury,  and  both 
George  Fox  and  Margaret  Fell  received  the  sentence 
of  Praemunire  with  all  its  terrible  consequences,  out- 
lawry, confiscation,  perpetual  imprisonment.  According 
to  Fox's  statement,  he  was  not  even  present  when 
sentence  was  passed  upon  him,  much  less  asked  in 
the  usual  form  what  he  had  to  urge  in  mitigation  of 
the  penalty,  the  object  being  to  stop  his  mouth  and 
prevent  him  from  pointing  out  any  more  flaws  in  the 
indictment. 

For  the  fourteen  months  which  had  already  elapsed 
since  Fox's  committal  to  prison,  he  had  been  confined 
in  Lancaster  Castle.  At  first  his  imprisonment  was 
not  a  very  close  one,  but  after  the  Assizes  of  August 
1664,  in  which  he  exposed  the  blunders  of  the  magis- 
trates who  were  persecuting  him,  Colonel  Kirkby,  he 
says,  "  gave  orders  to  the  gaoler  to  keep  me  close,  and 


196 


GEORGE  FOX 


suffer  no  flesh  alive  to  come  at  me,  for  I  was  not  fit  to 
be  discoursed  with,  by  men.  Then  I  was  put  into  a 
tower,  where  the  smoke  of  the  other  prisoners  came  up 
so  thick  that  I  could  hardly  see  the  candle  when  it 
burned  ;  and  I  being  locked  under  three  locks,  the 
under-gaoler,  when  the  smoke  was  great,  would  hardly 
be  persuaded  to  come  up  to  unlock  one  of  the  upper- 
most doors,  for  fear  of  the  smoke,  so  that  I  was  almost 
smothered.  Besides,  it  rained  in  upon  my  bed,  and 
many  times  when  I  went  to  stop  out  the  rain  in  the 
cold  winter  season,  my  shirt  was  wet  through  with  the 
rain  that  came  in  upon  me  while  I  was  labouring  to 
stop  it  out.  And  the  place  being  high,  and  open  to 
the  wind,  sometimes  as  fast  as  I  stopped  it,  the  wind 
blew  it  out  again.  In  this  manner  did  I  lie  all  that 
long,  cold  winter  till  the  next  assize  ;  in  which  time  I 
was  so  starved  with  cold  and  rain,  that  my  body  was 
greatly  swelled,  and  my  limbs  much  benumbed." 

In  April  1665,  Colonel  Kirkby  and  his  confederate 
Justices  decided  that  Fox's  continued  detention  at 
Lancaster  was  doing  them  harm,  and  worked  hard  to 
get  him  removed  to  some  distant  place,  so  that  he 
might  be  forgotten,  and  sympathy  with  him  might 
die  out  in  Lancashire.  They  talked  about  getting  him 
sent  "beyond  sea,"  but  eventually,  six  weeks  after  the 
sentence  of  Praemunire  had  been  passed,  they  obtained 
an  order  from  the  King  and  Council  for  his  removal 
from  Lancaster  to  Scarbro'.  He  was  so  weak  with 
lying  for  so  many  months  in  that  cold,  wet,  and  smoky 
prison,  that  he  could  hardly  stand.  However,  the 
sheriff's  officers  dragged  him  out  of  prison,  not  telling 
him  whither  they  were  taking  him.  "They  hurried 
me  away,"  he  says,  "  about  fourteen  miles  to  Bentham, 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS  197 


though  I  was  so  very  weak  I  was  hardly  able  to  sit 
on  horseback ;  and  my  clothes  smelt  so  of  smoke  that 
they  were  loathesome  to  myself.  The  wicked  gaoler, 
one  Hunter,  a  young  fellow,  would  come  behind  and 
give  the  horse  a  lash  with  his  whip,  and  make  him 
skip  and  leap,  so  that  I  being  weak  had  difficulty  to 
sit  him ;  and  then  he  would  come  and  look  me  in  the 
face  and  say,  '  How  do  you,  Mr.  Fox  ? '  I  told  him  it 
was  not  civil  in  him  to  do  so.  The  Lord  cut  him  off 
soon  after." 

At  York  the  treatment  of  the  prisoner  was  somewhat 
improved.  Lord  Frescheville  (a  loyal  Cavalier  who 
had  just  received  his  patent  of  peerage  from  Charles 
II.)  commanded  the  cavalry  stationed  there,  "  and  was 
very  civil  and  loving."  "I  gave  him,"  says  Fox,  "an 
account  of  my  imprisonment,  and  declared  many  things 
to  him  relating  to  truth.  They  kept  me  at  York  two 
days,  and  then  the  marshal  and  four  or  five  soldiers 
were  sent  to  convey  me  to  Scarbro'  Castle.  Indeed 
these  were  very  civil  men,  and  carried  themselves 
civilly  and  lovingly  to  me.  When  we  were  come  to 
Scarbro'  they  had  me  to  an  inn,  and  gave  notice  to 
the  governor,  who  sent  six  soldiers  to  be  my  guard 
that  night."  Such  extraordinary  precautions  seem  to 
show  that,  absurd  as  the  suggestion  sounds,  the  author- 
ities really  looked  upon  Fox  as  a  somewhat  dangerous 
conspirator,  and  believed  in  the  possibility  of  an  attempt 
at  rescue.  Weak  as  he  was  at  this  time,  and  subject  to 
fainting  fits,  he  was  put  into  a  room  in  the  Castle  which 
was  open  to  the  rain,  and  the  chimney  of  which  was 
always  smoking.  The  governor,  Sir  J.  Crossland,  came 
one  day  to  see  his  prisoner,  and  as  Fox  knew  him  to  be 
a  Roman  Catholic,  he  told  him  that  it  was  his  Purgatory 


198 


GEORGE  FOX 


to  which  he  had  been  consigned.  The  prisoner  spent 
fifty  shillings  out  of  his  own  pocket  in  order  to  make 
the  room  somewhat  tolerable,  and  then  they  removed 
him  to  another  worse  room  without  a  fire-place,  and 
much  exposed  to  the  weather.  "  Being,"  as  he  says, 
"  to  the  seaside,  and  lying  much  open,  the  wind  drove 
in  the  rain  forcibly  so  that  the  water  came  over  my 
bed  and  ran  about  the  room,  that  I  was  fain  to  skim 
it  up  with  a  platter.  And  when  my  clothes  were  wet 
I  had  no  fire  to  dry,  so  that  my  body  was  benumbed 
with  cold,  and  my  fingers  swelled,  that  one  was  grown 
as  big  as  two."  Besides  all  these  hardships  he  seems 
to  have  been  left  for  some  time  without  food,  and  had 
to  pay  a  woman  to  bring  him  some  necessaries  out  of 
the  town,  who  when  she  came  back  was  forced  to  run 
the  gauntlet  of  the  soldiers  trying  to  snatch  the  food 
out  of  her  hand.  At  last  he  had  to  hire  a  soldier  to 
bring  him  his  provisions,  which  were  truly  anchorite's 
fare.  A  three-penny  loaf  would  last  him  for  three 
weeks  or  even  longer,  and  his  drink  was  for  the  most 
part  water  with  wormwood  steeped  in  it.  Once  in  the 
bitter  winter  weather,  having  taken  a  violent  cold,  he 
sent  out  for  a  little  "  elecampane  beer." 1  The  soldiers 
heard  of  it,  and  by  way  of  a  practical  joke,  feigned 
a  message  for  Fox  to  go  and  wait  upon  the  deputy- 
governor,  and  in  his  absence  drank  up  his  cordial. 
"When  I  came  back,"  he  says,  "one  of  the  soldiers 
came  to  me  in  a  jeer,  and  asked  me  for  some  strong 
beer.  I  told  him  they  had  played  their  pretty  trick ; 
and  so  I  took  no  further  notice  of  it."  Assuredly,  when 
Ave  compare  the  prison  discipline  of  the  Stuart  period 

1  "Elecampane,"  says  the  Imperial  Dictionary,  "is  an  aromatic 
bitter,  and  was  formerly  regarded  as  an  expectorant.'' 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS 


199 


With  the  prison  discipline  of  the  Victorian  age  we  shall 
not  be  tempted  to  say,  "  The  former  days  were  better 
than  these."  It  was  felt  as  a  great  grievance  by  Fox 
that  the  governor  would  not  allow  the  Friends  of 
Scarbro'  to  visit  him;  and  with  his  usual  habit  of  quot- 
ing a  Biblical  precedent  for  everything,  he  reminded 
the  authorities  of  what  was  done  in  the  case  of  St.  Paul 
at  Rome,  how  the  heathen  rulers  of  that  day  allowed 
him,  though  in  prison,  to  see  his  friends,  and  to  preach 
Jesus  Christ  with  all  confidence,  no  man  forbidding 
him.  "  So  you  that  go  under  the  name  of  Christians 
are  worse  in  this  respect  than  those  heathen  were." 

Though  the  Friends  were  not  permitted  to  visit  their 
apostle,  all  other  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  were 
allowed  to  come  and  gaze  at  one  whom  the  governor 
seems  to  have  looked  upon  as  an  interesting  specimen 
added  to  his  collection.  Lord  Falconbridge  (or  Faucon- 
berg),  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of  the  North  Riding,  and 
in  high  favour  with  Charles  II.,  notwithstanding  his 
marriage  with  Cromwell's  daughter;  old  Lord  Fairfax's 
widow,  and  other  members  of  the  Yorkshire  aristocracy, 
came  thus  at  various  times  to  gaze  or  to  dispute.  There 
came  a  Presbyterian  physician,  who  argued  against  the 
universality  of  the  Light  of  Christ ;  and  there  came 
also  Papists — once  in  great  numbers — to  argue  about 
the  infallibility  of  the  Pope,1  and  Christ's  descent  into 
Hades.  But  the  most  interesting  of  these  interviews, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  and  one  to  which  sufficient  attention 
has  not  yet  been  called,  was  one  which  he  had  with 
a  certain  Doctor  of  Divinity  named  Cradock,  who  called 

1  In  this  discussion  Fox  quoted  the  case  of  Pope  Marcellinus, 
who  is  alleged  to  have  fallen  away  under  the  stress  of  Diocletian's 
persecution. 


200 


GEORGE  FOX 


upon  him  together  with  three  other  clergymen,  the 
governor  and  his  wife,  and  some  other  distinguished 
visitors.  After  the  cause  of  Fox's  imprisonment  had 
been  stated,  and  the  usual  arguments  about  swearing 
had  been  exchanged,  " '  Why,'  said  Fox,  '  dost  thou 
excommunicate  my  friends  ? '  (for  he  had  excommuni- 
cated abundance  both  in  Yorkshire  and  Lancashire). 
He  said,  '  For  not  coming  to  church.'  '  Why,'  said  I, 
'ye  left  us  above  twenty  years  ago,  when  we  were  but 
young  lads  and  lassies,  to  the  Presbyterians,  Independ- 
ents, and  Baptists,  many  of  whom  made  spoil  of  our 
goods,  and  persecuted  us,  because  we  would  not  follow 
them.  Nor  we,  being  but  young,  knew  little  then  of 
your  principles;  and  if  ye  had  intended  to  keep  the 
old  men  that  did  know  them,  to  you  and  your  principles 
alive,  that  we  might  have  known  them,  ye  should  either 
not  have  fled  from  us  as  ye  did,  or  ye  should  have  sent 
us  your  epistles,  collects,  homilies,  and  evening  songs, 
for  Paul  wrote  epistles  to  the  saints,  though  he  was  in 
prison.  But  they  and  we  might  have  turned  Turks 
or  Jews  for  any  collects,  homilies,  or  epistles  we  had 
from  you  all  this  while.  And  now  thou  hast  excom- 
municated us,  both  young  and  old,  and  so  have  others 
of  you  done ;  that  is,  ye  have  put  us  out  of  your  church 
before  you  have  got  us  into  it,  and  before  ye  have 
brought  us  to  know  your  principles.' " 

In  these  words  Fox  concisely  sums  up  the  whole 
early  history  of  Quakerism,  fighting  as  it  did  with 
Calvinism,  with  Puritanism,  with  much  that  the  Anglican 
spirit  was  also  opposed  to,  but  getting  no  help,  no 
guidance  or  counselling  words,  from  the  dismayed  and 
silenced  Anglican  clergy.  St.  Dominic  and  men  of 
that  mould  might  be  said  to  have  earned  the  hateful 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS  201 


right  to  persecute  others  by  the  courage  with  which 
they  bore  persecution  when  their  enemies  had  the 
upper  hand.  Even  so  with  the  Roman  Catholics  under 
Elizabeth,  and  with  the  Scottish  Covenanters  under 
Charles  II.,  but  not  so  with  the  timid  Church  which 
lay  so  low  during  the  years  of  Puritan  ascendency  from 
1640  to  1G60. 

The  liberty  thus  given  to  the  prisoner  to  converse 
with  those  who  differed  from  his  religious  views,  and 
who  probably  expected  easily  to  vanquish  him  in  argu- 
ment, did  not  extend  to  his  brethren  in  the  faith,  as 
to  whom  he  says  he  was  "as  a  man  buried  alive." 
Rumours  of  an  unpleasant  kind  as  to  the  probable 
termination  of  his  case  filtered  through  into  his  prison 
cell.  The  officers  of  the  garrison  often  threatened  "that 
he  should  be  hanged  over  the  wall,"  and  the  deputy- 
governor  once  informed  him  that  he  was  being  kept 
there  as  a  kind  of  hostage — "  the  King  knowing  I  had 
a  great  interest  in  the  people,  had  sent  me  thither,  that 
if  there  should  be  any  stirring  in  the  nation,  they  should 
hang  me  over  the  wall  to  keep  the  nation  down."  All 
which  shows  the  utter  ignorance  of  the  Government  as 
to  the  true  character  of  the  Quaker  movement.  What- 
ever the  faults  of  the  early  Friends  might  be,  insurrection 
and  armed  resistance  to  the  Government  were  things 
that  for  them  never  came  within  the  region  of  the 
possible,  and  no  rebellion  against  the  Stuart  King 
would  have  been  either  retarded  or  promoted  for  a 
day  by  either  the  imprisonment  of  their  founder  or 
by  "  hanging  him  over  the  wall."  There  was  a  wedding 
at  the  house  of  a  neighbouring  Papist,  and  during  the 
merry-making  that  followed,  there  was  much  pleasant 
discourse  of  the  speedy  execution  of  the  prisoner  in 


202 


GEORGE  FOX 


the  Castle.  Either  the  wedding  guests,  in  the  lightness 
of  their  heart,  came  to  taunt  Fox  with  what  they  had 
heard,  or  in  some  other  way  the  news  was  conveyed 
to  him.  Brave  at  heart  for  all  his  worn-out  body,  he 
replied — "  If  this  be  what  ye  desire,  and  if  it  be  per- 
mitted you  by  the  Lord,  I  am  ready.  I  have  never 
feared  death  or  sufferings  in  my  life,  but  have  been  well 
known  for  an  innocent  and  peaceable  man,  free  from  all 
stirrings  and  plottings,  and  seeking  the  good  of  all  men." 

After  a  time  Governor  Crossland,  having  got  into 
trouble  himself  over  a  mismanaged  privateer  of  his  that 
had  made  some  illegal  captures,  was  softened  in  spirit, 
and  showed  a  kindlier  bearing  towards  his  patient 
prisoner.  The  ever  faithful  "  Esquire  Marsh,"  who  said 
"  he  would  go  a  hundred  miles  barefoot  for  George  Fox's 
freedom,"  exerted  his  influence  at  Court  on  his  behalf, 
and  presented  a  petition,  drawn  up  by  some  London 
Friends,  setting  forth  the  sufferings  already  endured  by 
their  founder.  In  the  end,  Charles  II.  was  persuaded 
of  the  peaceable  character  of  the  prisoner  at  Scarbro', 
or  rather  probably  was  persuaded  to  take  the  trouble 
to  give  five  minutes'  attention  to  his  case.  An  order 
was  signed  stating  that  the  King  was  certainly  informed 
that  George  Fox  was  a  man  principled  against  plotting 
and  fighting,  and  ready  at  all  times  to  discover  plots 
rather  than  to  make  them,  and  signifying  thereupon 
the  royal  pleasure  that  he  should  be  released  from  his 
imprisonment.  The  order  was  brought  down  to  Scar- 
bro' by  a  zealous  Quaker  minister,  named  John  White- 
head, who  had  been  one  of  the  most  active  in  procuring  it, 
and  on  September  1,  1666,  Fox  obtained  his  discharge. 
He  had  been  deprived  of  liberty  since  January  11, 
1664,  three  years  all  but  three  months. 


THE  STUARTS  AND  THE  QUAKERS  203 


After  his  release  he  wished  to  make  Governor  Cross- 
land  a  present  for  the  civility  and  kindness  he  had  lately 
showed  liim,  but  the  governor  refused  to  receive  it, 
saying  that  he  would  gladly  do  anything  that  he  could 
for  him  and  his  friends.  Ever  after,  when  the  mayor 
of  Scarbro'  sent  up  to  him  for  soldiers  to  break  up  the 
meetings  of  Friends,  if  he  appeared  to  comply,  he 
privately  gave  his  soldiers  a  charge  not  to  meddle,  and 
this  friendly  attitude  he  retained  till  his  dying  day.1 
Much  also  was  the  bearing  of  the  officers  and  soldiers 
of  the  garrison  changed  from  what  it  had  been  at  first. 
When  George  Fox's  name  was  mentioned  in  their 
presence,  they  would  often  say,  "  He  is  as  stiff  as  a 
tree,  and  as  pure  as  a  bell,  for  we  could  never  move 
him." 

1  When  Fox  visited  Scarbro'  three  years  after  his  liberation, 
Sir  Jordan  Crossland  sent  him  a  message, "  Surely  you  will  not  be 
so  unkind  as  not  to  come  and  see  me  and  my  wife."  Fox  accordingly, 
after  his  meeting  with  Friends,  went  up  to  the  Castle  and  had  a 
courteous  and  even  loving  reception  from  his  former  gaoler. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


MARRIAGE 

While  Fox  had  been  shut  up  in  prison  great  and 
terrible  events  had  been  branding  themselves  on  the 
page  of  English  history.  In  1665  had  begun  the  dis- 
astrous war  with  Holland,  but  far  more  calamitous  was 
the  Great  Plague  of  London,  which  began  in  the  early 
part  of  1665,  and  which  was  at  its  height  from  April  to 
October  of  that  year,  or  during  the  first  six  months  of 
Fox's  imprisonment  at  Scarbro'. 

And  now,  on  September  2,  1665,  the  very  day 
after  his  release,  broke  out  the  memorable  Fire  of 
London,  which  lasted  for  five  days,  and  destroyed 
thirteen  thousand  houses.  On  the  last  day  of  the  fire, 
"  Justice  "  Fleming's  bi'other  Alexander,  who  was  living 
in  London,  wrote  as  follows  from  the  Red  Lion  in  Grub 
Street,  to  his  brother  at  Rydal — "  The  fire  is  almost 
quenched.  The  houses  are  laid  so  flat  to  the  ground, 
that  the  City  looks  just  like  our  [Westmoreland]  fells, 
for  there  is  nothing  to  see  but  heaps  of  stones.  You 
may  stand  where  Cheapside  was  and  see  the  Thames." 1 

Of  this  calamity  Fox  deemed  that  he  had  received  a 
Divine  warning  when  he  was  a  prisoner  at  Lancaster. 
"  As  I  was  walking  in  my  chamber,"  he  says,  "  with  my 

1  Fleming  MSS.  41-2. 
204 


MARRIAGE 


205 


eye  to  the  Lord,  I  saw  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  with  a 
glittering  drawn  sword  stretched  southward,  as  though 
the  court  had  been  all  on  fire.  Not  long  after,  the 
wars  broke  out  with  Holland,  the  sickness  broke  forth, 
and  afterwards  the  fire  of  London  :  so  the  Lord's  sword 
was  drawn  indeed."  Soon  after  his  release,  Fox  visited 
London,  and  walked  for  awhile  among  the  ruins, 
"  taking  good  notice  of  them,  and  beheld  the  city  lying 
according  as  the  word  of  the  Lord  had  come  to  me 
concerning  it  several  years  before." 

For  Fox  personally  those  three  years  of  prison  hard- 
ship had  evidently  been  one  of  the  turning-poiuts  in 
his  life.  He  was  but  forty-two  years  old  when  he  obtained 
his  release,  but  we  can  see  that  he  came  forth  an  old  and 
broken  man,  having  left  his  youth  behind  him  in  the 
gloomy  fortresses  to  which  he  had  been  confined.  "  I 
was  weak,"  he  says,  "  with  lying  almost  three  years  in 
cruel  and  hard  imprisonments ;  my  joints  and  my  body 
were  so  stiff  and  benumbed  that  I  could  hardly  get  on 
my  horse  or  bend  my  joints ;  nor  could  I  well  bear  to 
be  near  the  fire  or  to  eat  warm  meat,  I  had  been  kept 
so  long  from  it."  He  still  travelled  frequently  about 
the  country;  nay,  as  we  shall  see,  America  and  Germany 
were  to  be  the  scenes  of  some  of  his  future  labours; 
but  the  manly  frame  was  bowed,  the  once  expert  and 
active  horseman  was  for  some  time  only  able  with 
great  difficulty  to  mount  on  horseback,  and  there  were 
evidently  some  long  spaces  in  his  life  when  he  was 
altogether  laid  by  through  sickness. 

But  the  years  of  imprisonment  had  not  been  all 
wasted.  He  had  evidently,  in  the  dungeon  vaults  of 
Lancaster  and  Scarbro',  been  meditating  deeply  on  the 
necessities  and  the  dangers  of  the  new  Society  which 


206 


GEORGE  FOX 


he  had  founded.  He  saw  that  some  tighter  bond  of 
discipline  than  had  yet  prevailed  must  be  introduced, 
or  the  Quaker  churches  scattered  over  the  land  would 
slide  downward  into  "  the  anarchy  of  the  Ranters." 
There  was  a  necessity  also,  in  view  of  the  many  hot- 
headed and  excitable  persons  who  had  joined  the 
Society,  of  some  organ  which  could  say  with  distinct 
and  authoritative  voice,  "  These  are,  and  these  are  not 
acts  and  words  of  which  we  as  a  Society  are  willing  to 
bear  the  responsibility."  For  this  purpose,  led  as  he 
believed  by  the  Divine  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  truth, 
he  framed  that  scheme  of  church  government  which 
has  lasted  for  two  hundred  and  thirty  years  in  the 
Society  of  Friends.  This  consists  of  Yearly,  Quarterly, 
and  Monthly  Meetings,  with  some  smaller  organizations 
which  need  not  be  noticed  here.  The  Yearly  Meeting, 
to  which  allusion  has  already  been  made,  is  the  par- 
liament or  convocation  of  the  whole  kingdom ;  the 
Quarterly  Meeting  is  virtually  the  synod  of  the  county; 
the  Monthly  Meeting  is  the  vestry  of  the  parish  or  of 
a  cluster  of  neighbouring  parishes.  The  respective 
rights  and  duties  of  these  various  bodies  were  carefully 
defined ;  and  the  system  as  a  whole,  blending  as  it  did 
congregational  liberty  with  national  unity,  showed  a 
practical  sagacity  which  has  been  attested  by  its  suc- 
cessful working  for  more  than  two  centuries.  Probably 
Fox  may  have  been  assisted  in  the  working  out  of  his 
scheme  by  some  of  the  educated  and  thoughtful  men 
who  had  by  this  time  joined  the  new  Society,  but  the 
main  idea  seems  to  have  been  clearly  his  own ;  and 
the  really  statesmanlike  qualities  which  he  showed, 
both  in  its  original  conception  and  in  securing  its 
establishment  among  all  the  widely- scattered  com- 


MARRIAGE 


207 


munities  of  the  Quakers,  are  the  best  refutation  of  the 
absurd  statement  of  a  recent  historian,  that  "  there 
was  no  reason  for  placing  him  morally  or  intellectually 
above  Ludovick  Muggleton  or  Joanna  Southcote." 

For  the  next  few  years  after  his  release  from  prison, 
Fox  was  chiefly  employed  in  journeying  through 
England,  Wales,  and  Ireland,  confirming  his  followers 
in  their  faith,  and  everywhere  persuading  them  to 
adopt  the  new  organization.  His  life  from  this  point 
onward  became  more  and  more  identified  with  the 
history  of  Quakerism  ;  and  from  various  causes  (partly 
that  premature  advent  of  old  age  to  which  I  have 
alluded)  it  yields  less  of  individual  interest  to  the 
biographer  than  its  earlier  chapters.  But  we  notice 
with  interest  some  of  the  indications  afforded  by  this 
part  of  the  Journal,  of  the  increasing  number  of 
thoughtful  and  influential  men  who,  notwithstanding 
the  bitter  persecution  to  which  it  was  subjected,  came 
out  boldly  and  joined  the  new  Society.  Isaac  Penning- 
ton and  Thomas  Ellwood  had  been  for  some  years 
Quakers;1  Robert  Barclay,  a  lad  of  nineteen,  in  1667 
was  girding  himself  up  to  write  his  great  "  Apology "; 
and  William  Penn,  the  courtier  and  the  friend  of  the 
Duke  of  York,  in  1668  finally  cast  in  his  lot  with  the 
despised  and  harassed  Quakers.  But  besides  these 
well-known  instances,  we  meet  in  the  pages  of  the 
Journal  with  an  "  ex-sheriff  of  Lincoln,"  "  Walter 
Jenkins,  who  had  been  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  Mon- 
mouthshire," and  a  Friend  who  had  been  sheriff  of 
Nottingham  about  the  year  1649,  and  had  had  George 
Fox  for  his  prisoner.    All  these,  besides  several  other 

1  Their  conversion  to  Quakerism  was  in  the  years  1658  and 
1660  respectively. 


208 


GEORGE  FOX 


magistrates,  and  some  clergymen,  had  joined  the  new- 
Society. 

In  this  connection,  and  as  an  evidence  that  Fox, 
notwithstanding  his  own  very  imperfect  education,  did 
not  despise  culture,  we  note  that  in  1667,  when  he  was 
hard  at  work  establishing  Monthly  Meetings,  he  also 
laboured  at  "  the  setting  up  of  a  school  at  Waltham  for 
teaching  boys,"  and  a  girls'  school  at  Shacklewell,  "for 
instructing  them  in  whatsoever  things  were  civil  and 
useful  in  the  creation." 

In  one  of  his  many  visits  to  London,  Fox  called  on 
his  old  friend  and  protector  the  courtier  whom  he  calls 
"  Escpjire  Marsh."  He  happened  to  be  at  dinner  with 
several  aristocratic  guests,  and  asked  Fox  to  join  the 
party.  The  shy  Quaker  declined,  but  joined  in  the 
conversation  though  not  in  the  repast.  There  was  "  a 
great  Papist "  there,  with  whom  he  had  an  argument 
about  Baptism,  Purgatory,  and  persecution  for  religion. 
"  What  is  it  that  brings  salvation  in  your  Church  ? " 
said  Fox.  "  Good  works,"  said  the  great  Papist.  "  Not 
so,"  answered  the  Quaker ;  "  the  grace  of  God,  which 
bringeth  salvation,  teaches  to  deny  ungodliness  and 
worldly  lusts,  and  to  live  soberly,  righteously,  and 
godly.  So  it  is  not  the  good  works,  nor  the  good  life 
that  brings  salvation,  but  the  grace."  "  What ! "  said 
the  Papist,  "  doth  this  grace  that  brings  salvation 
appear  unto  all  men  ?  "  "  '  Yes,'  said  I.  '  Then,'  said 
he,  'I  deny  that.'  I  replied,  'All  that  deny  that  are 
sect-makers,  and  are  not  in  the  universal  faith,  grace, 
and  truth  which  the  apostles  were  in.' "  A  good  deal 
more  discussion  followed,  in  which  happily  neither  of 
the  parties  seems  to  have  lost  his  temper.  At  the  end, 
"  Oh  ! "  said  Esquire  Marsh  to  the  Papist,  "  you  do  not 


MARRIAGE 


209 


know  this  man ;  if  he  would  but  come  to  church  now 
and  then  he  would  be  a  brave  man." 

After  a  time  Fox  went  aside  into  another  room  to 
speak  with  "Esquire  Marsh,"  who  as  a  Middlesex 
magistrate  in  high  repute,  had  often  to  deal  with 
Quaker  recusants.  "How,"  said  Marsh,  "am  I  to 
distinguish  between  you  and  the  Independents,  Baptists, 
and  Fifth  Monarchy  men,  who  also  say  they  cannot 
swear,  and  refuse  the  oath  of  allegiance  ?  "  "  Very 
easily,"  said  Fox.  "  All  the  members  of  those  sects  will 
swear  readily  enough  if  their  cows  or  horses  have 
been  stolen,  whereas  our  people  will  not  swear  even  to 
get  their  private  wrongs  righted.  In  fact,  it  has 
happened  that  a  Quaker,  from  whom  two  beasts  had 
been  stolen,  appeared  in  court,  refused  to  swear  in  his 
own  matter,  had  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy 
tendered  to  him,  and  was  '  praemunired '  and  cast  into 
prison,  while  the  thief  went  free."  "  The  judge  who  so 
decided,"  said  Marsh,  "  was  a  wicked  man."  In  many 
cases,  after  this  conversation,  "  Justice  Marsh  "  was  able 
to  interpose  to  prevent  Friends  from  being  "  praemun- 
ired," and  when  he  could  not  avoid  sending  them  to 
prison,  he  sent  them  for  a  few  hours,  or  for  one  night. 
"  At  length,"  says  Fox,  "  he  went  to  the  King  and  told 
him  he  had  sent  some  of  us  to  prison  contrary  to  his 
conscience,  and  he  could  do  so  no  more.  Wherefore 
he  removed  his  family  from  Limehouse,  where  he  lived, 
and  took  lodgings  near  St.  James's  Park.  He  told 
the  King  that  if  he  would  be  pleased  to  give  liberty 
of  conscience,  that  would  quiet  and  settle  all,  for  then 
none  would  have  any  pretence  to  be  uneasy.  And 
indeed  he  was  a  very  serviceable  man  to  Truth  and 
Friends  in  his  day." 


210 


GEORGE  FOX 


On  October  18,  1669,  three  years  after  Fox's  liber- 
ation from  Scarbro'  Castle,  came  an  event  to 
which  those  who  knew  him  had  been  for  some  time 
looking  forward — his  marriage  to  Margaret,  widow  of 
Thomas  Fell.  As  we  have  seen,  the  good  old  Judge 
had  died  in  November  1658,  a  few  months  after  the 
great  Protector.  "Happy  in  the  opportunity  of  his 
death,"  he  had  not  lived  to  see  the  ruin  brought  upon 
the  cause  of  Puritanism  and  the  Parliament  which  he 
loved,  nor  the  indignities  offered  to  the  remains  of  his 
old  friend  and  patron  Brad  sh  aw,  whose  death  followed 
his  own  after  nearly  a  year's  interval  (October  31, 1659). 

We  have  also  seen  how  bravely  the  widowed  mistress 
of  Swarthmoor  Hall  had  held  on  her  way,  opening  her 
house  for  the  reception  of  travelling  Friends,  placing 
its  large  hall  at  their  disposal  for  their  weekly  meetings, 
(despising  the  Act  by  which  their  thus  assembling  them- 
selves together  was  forbidden  under  heavy  penalties,) 
frowned  upon  and  conspired  against  by  the  bigoted 
Cavalier  squires  of  Bydal  and  Kirkby,  and  at  last,  to- 
gether with  George  Fox,  deprived  of  property  and  liberty 
by  the  infamous  sentence  of  Praemunire.  This  sentence 
was  passed  in  March  1665,  when  she  had  already  been 
fourteen  months  in  prison,  owing  to  the  blunders  in 
the  indictment,  and  the  necessity  of  adjourning  the 
trial  through  three  assizes.  Strangely  enough,  though 
the  head  and  front  of  Margaret  Fell's  offending  was  the 
support  which  she  had  given  to  George  Fox,  she  was 
not  liberated  from  Lancaster  in  September  1666,  when 
he  walked  forth  from  Scarbro'  Castle.  In  the  year 
1667,  we  read  in  the  Journal — "  To  this  meeting  in 
Lancashire  Margaret  Fell,  being  a  prisoner,  got  liberty 
to  come,  and  went  with  me  to  Jane  Milner's  in  Cheshire, 


MARRIAGE 


211 


where  we  parted."  Apparently  she  returned  to  prison 
soon  afterwards,  for  in  a  letter  written  to  her  in  May 
1668  by  Thomas  Salthouse  (formerly  steward  at 
Swarthmoor),  the  writer  says,  "  Doctor  Lower  hath 
improved  his  interest  of  late  with  some  lords  of  the 
Royal  Society  to  plead  with  the  King  on  thy  behalf 
for  liberty,  but  Pharaoh's  heart  is  so  hard."  1 

However,  soon  after  this  (June  1668)  she  was  re- 
leased, on  what  terms  we  know  not,  but  it  is  clear  from 
subsequent  events  that  the  Praemunire  still  hung  over 
her,  and  that  she  was  liable  to  be  re-committed  to 
prison  at  any  time.  This  first  spell  of  imprisonment 
had  lasted  four  and  a  half  years  (January  1664 — June 
1668). 

Having  obtained  her  liberty,  the  noble-hearted 
woman,  after  a  short  visit  to  her  home  (still  hers,  for 
the  King  seems  to  have  interfered  to  prevent  the 
sentence  of  confiscation  from  being  carried  into  effect), 
spent  her  first  year  of  freedom  in  visiting  the  prisons 
throughout  England,  and  doing  all  that  lay  in  her 
power  to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  the  Friends  confined 
therein.  In  this  interval  she  also  visited  her  youngest 
daughter  Rachel,  who  was  a  pupil  at  that  school  at 
Shacklewell  which  we  have  seen  established  by  George 
Fox.  After  her  circuit  of  the  prisons  was  ended,  she 
paid  a  visit  to  her  third  daughter  Isabel,  who  five  years 
previously  had  married  William  Yeamans  of  Bristol. 
This  son-in-law  of  Margaret  Fell's  was  son  of  that  ex- 
sheriff  of  Bristol  who,  as  we  have  already  said,  was 
hung  before  his  own  door  in  1643,  for  endeavouring  to 
betray  the  city  to  Prince  Rupert.  The  remembrance 
of  this  display  of  premature  Royalism  was  probably 

1  Quoted  by  Mrs.  Webb,  Fells  of  Swarthmoor  Hall,  p.  245. 


212 


GEORGE  FOX 


some  protection  to  William  Yeamans  and  all  his  circle 
of  friends  at  Bristol. 

It  was  during  this  visit  (October  27,  1669)  that 
the  long  friendship  of  George  Fox  and  Margaret  Fell 
ripened  into  matrimony.  The  bride  was  nine  years 
older  than  the  bridegroom,  she  being  in  the  fifty-fifth 
year  of  her  age,  and  he  in  the  forty-sixth  of  his ;  but 
though  she,  as  well  as  he,  had  now  had  sad  experience 
of  a  seventeenth-century  prison,  one  may  conjecture 
from  such  slight  indications  as  are  afforded  us,  that  in 
mind,  manner,  and  appearance  she  was  the  younger  of 
the  two. 

But  such  an  important  event  in  Fox's  life  as  his 
marriage  must  be  told  in  his  own  words,  though  the 
extract  is  a  rather  long  one. 

"After  this  meeting  in  Gloucestershire  was  over,  we 
travelled  till  we  came  to  Bristol ;  where  I  met  with 
Margaret  Fell,  who  was  come  to  visit  her  daughter 
Yeamans.1  I  had  seen  from  the  Lord  a  considerable 
time  before,  that  I  should  take  Margaret  Fell  to  be  my 
wife.  And  when  I  first  mentioned  it  to  her,  she  felt 
the  answer  of  life  from  God  thereunto.  But  though 
the  Lord  had  opened  this  thing  to  me,  yet  I  had  not 
received  a  command  from  the  Lord  for  the  accom- 
plishing of  it  then.  Wherefore  I  let  the  thing  rest, 
and  went  on  in  the  work  and  service  of  the  Lord  as 
before,  according  as  He  led  me,  travelling  up  and  down 
in  this  nation  and  through  Ireland.  But  now,  being 
at  Bristol,  and  finding  Margaret  Fell  there,  it  opened 
in  me  from  the  Lord  that  the  thing  should  be  accom- 
plished. After  we  had  discoursed  the  matter  together, 
I  told  her,  '  if  she  also  was  satisfied  with  the  accom- 
1  Yeomans  in  the  Journal. ' 


MARRIAGE 


213 


plishing  of  it  now,  she  should  first  send  for  her 
children,'  which  she  did.  When  the  rest  of  her 
daughters  were  come,  I  asked  both  them  and  her 
sons-in-law  '  if  they  had  anything  against  it  or  for 
it,'  and  they  all  severally  expressed  their  satisfaction 
therein.  Then  I  asked  Margaret  '  if  she  had  fulfilled 
and  performed  her  husband's  will  to  her  children.'  She 
replied,  'The  children  knew  that.'  Whereupon  I  asked 
them  '  whether,  if  their  mother  married,  they  should 
not  lose  by  it.'  And  I  asked  Margaret  '  whether  she 
had  done  anything  in  lieu  of  it,  which  might  answer  it 
to  the  children.'  The  children  said  '  she  had  answered 
it  to  them,  and  desired  me  to  speak  no  more  of  it.'  I 
told  them  I  was  plain,  and  would  have  all  things  done 
plainly,  for  I  sought  not  any  outward  advantage  to 
myself.  So  after  I  had  thus  acquainted  the  children 
with  it,  our  intention  of  marriage  was  laid  before 
Friends,  both  privately  and  publicly,  to  their  full  satis- 
faction, many  of  whom  gave  testimony  thereunto  that 
it  was  of  God.  Afterwards,  a  meeting  being  appointed 
for  the  accomplishing  thereof  in  the  meeting-house  of 
Broad  Mead  in  Bristol,  we  took  each  other,  the  Lord 
joining  us  together  in  the  honourable  marriage  state 
in  the  Everlasting  Covenant,  and  immortal  Seed  of  Life. 
In  the  sense  whereof,  living  and  weighty  testimonies 
were  borne  thereunto  by  Friends,  in  the  movings  of 
the  heavenly  power  which  united  us  together.  There 
was  a  certificate  relating  both  to  the  proceedings  and 
the  marriage  openly  read  and  signed  by  the  relations, 
and  by  most  of  the  ancient  Friends  of  that  city,  besides 
many  others  from  divers  parts  of  this  nation." 

Though  expressed  in  somewhat  archaic  language, 
the  preceding  extract  describes  the  manner  in  which 


214 


GEORGE  FOX 


marriages  have  been  solemnized  by  members  of  the 
Society  of  Friends  for  nearly  two  centuries  and  a  half. 
Rejecting  all  sacraments,  they  have  of  course  not  called 
marriage  a  sacrament,  but  they  have  always  insisted 
strongly  on  the  religious  character  of  the  covenant 
plighted  (as  the  old  phrase  ran)  "in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord  and  in  the  presence  of  this  assembly."  But  they 
have  contended  with  equal  zeal  that  the  presence  of 
no  priest  or  minister  is  necessary  to  hallow  the  union, 
which,  like  all  the  other  acts  of  Quaker  worship,  is 
believed  to  be  hallowed  by  the  unseen  but  spirit-felt 
presence  of  Christ. 

One  point  for  which  Fox  had  especially  laboured 
in  settling  the  discipline  of  the  new  Society  had  been 
"that  widows  should  make  provision  for  their  first 
husband's  children  before  they  married  again,"  in  order 
"  that  all  things  might  be  kept  pure  and  clean,  and  be 
done  in  righteousness  to  the  glory  of  God."  It  was 
in  accordance  therefore  with  his  own  principle  that 
he  made  such  anxious  inquiry  of  Margaret  Fell's 
daughters  and  sons-in-law  whether  they  were  satisfied 
that  their  pecuniary  interests  were  not  neglected  in 
their  mother's  second  marriage.  In  point  of  fact  it 
seems  that  Judge  Fell  had  provided  for  this  con- 
tingency, devising  the  Swarthmoor  property,  in  the 
event  of  his  widow's  re-marriage,  to  his  seven  daughters, 
whom  he  constituted  his  residuary  legatees. 

Thus  there  was  probably  no  real  conflict  of  interests 
between  George  Fox  and  his  wife's  daughters.  But 
beyond  that,  there  seems  to  have  been  unclouded 
love  and  confidence  between  him  and  all  the  female 
part  of  the  family.  All  the  six  surviving  daughters 
and    their  husbands   published   after   his   death  a 


MARRIAGE 


215 


"Testimony"  on  his  behalf,  beginning,  "Neither  days 
nor  length  of  time  with  us  can  wear  out  the  memory 
of  our  dear  and  honoured  father,  George  Fox,  whom 
the  Lord  hath  taken  to  Himself."  Even  more  con- 
vincing, perhaps,  are  the  endorsements  put  by  their 
remoter  descendants  on  the  letters  which  they  cherished 
with  pious  care.  "  My  dear  and  honoured  grand- 
mother's affectionate  letter  to  my  dear  and  honoured 
grandfather  Fox,"  is  one  of  such  endorsements,  and 
there  are  many  others  similarly  expressed. 

Unhappily,  the  only  son  of  the  late  Judge,  George 
Fell,  did  not  look  so  favourably  on  his  mother's  second 
marriage.  He  had  kept  his  terms  in  London  as  a 
barrister  and  was  now  a  Lancashire  squire,  thirty- 
three  years  of  age,  a  magistrate  and  a  commissioner 
of  militia,  somewhat  incapable,  somewhat  extravagant, 
and  married  apparently  to  an  extravagant  wife.  To 
him  his  mother's  re-marriage  brought  no  accession  of 
income,  and  one  can  easily  understand  that  the  social 
disparagement  of  such  a  kinship  with  the  homely 
shepherd  of  Leicestershire  would  be  keenly  felt  by  the 
young  magistrate  when  he  met  Kirkby,  Fleming,  and 
others  of  the  magisterial  cousinry  at  Quarter  Sessions 
or  Militia  dinners.  He  brought  vexatious  and  appar- 
ently unfounded  claims  against  his  mother  for  some  of 
her  dealings  with  the  Swarthmoor  estate ;  and  there 
is  too  much  reason  to  believe  that  he  approved,  if  he 
did  not  actually  originate  the  action  of  the  Justices 
in  renewing  Margaret  Fell's  suspended  sentence  of 
imprisonment.  In  a  letter  written  by  George  Fox 
to  his  wife  on  March  23,  1669,  he  says — 

"  Dear  Heart,  to  whom  is  my  love.  Thou  mayest 
have  some  trials,  but  keep  in  wisdom  and  patience. 


216 


GEORGE  FOX 


There  hath  been  a  great  noise  about  thy  son,  George 
Fell,  as  having  orders  to  send  thee  to  Westchester  and 
me  to  Jersey,  which  I  have  been  desirous  should  get 
as  little  as  may  be  out  among  Friends  for  Truth's  sake. 
I  am  informed  he  hath  been  with  Kirkby,  Monk,  and 
such-like  persons ;  and  I  understand  his  intent  is  to 
have  Swarthmoor,  and  that  he  saith  thou  lost  thy 
right  [thereto]  by  building  before  being  married,  [and 
also  that  thou]  cannot  have  thy  third  of  Marsh  Grange 
and  the  Mills,  they  being  customary  estate ;  and  that 
it  cost  him  £40  to  get  a  warrant  to  save  that  estate, 
which  he  might  have  taken.  The  agreement  thou 
made  with  him,  he  says,  signifies  nothing,  thou  being 
a  prisoner.  .  .  Now  if  thou  should  make  another 
agreement  in  another  name  [Fox  instead  of  Fell]  it 
may  beget  another  trouble  worse  than  the  former. 
But  of  this  thou  canst  inform  thyself  also,  and  let  all 
things  be  done  in  peace  and  quietness,  and  in  the 
power  that  binds.  Do  not  look  at,  but  keep  over 
all  unnaturalness  from  him,  if  any  such  thing  should 
appear ;  keep  in  that  which  was  and  is,  and  will  be. 
If  he  hath  defamed  thee  at  Court,  thou  should  come 
up  some  time  and  clear  it,  that  such  things  may  be 
emptied  out  of  their  minds;  and  then  come  over  all 
his  orders,  (?)  if  he  have  any  orders,  but  I  think  he 
hath  none.  But  however  it  be,  keep  over  them  all 
in  the  power  of  God  that  doth  bind,  for  that  must  work 
through  all  things. 

"No  word  but  my  love  to  thee,  Susan,  Rachel,  and 
the  little  ones,  and  Leonard  and  Mary  Fell,  and  all 
be  quiet  and  keep  to  the  testimony. 

"G.  F."1 

1  Fells  of  Swarthmoor  Hall,  p.  256. 


MARRIAGE 


217 


The  intrigues  for  Margaret  Fox's  imprisonment 
were  but  too  successful.  It  was  not  a  difficult  matter 
for  any  one  who  had  a  spite  against  the  Quaker  non- 
juror to  get  him  or  her  lodged  in  prison.  George  Fox, 
who  had  parted  from  his  wife  a  week  after  the  marriage, 
"  betaking  ourselves,"  as  he  says,  "  to  our  several 
services,"  wrote  to  her  early  in  1670,  appointing  a 
meeting  with  her  in  Leicestershire ;  but  instead  of 
meeting  with  her,  he  heard  she  was  haled  out  of  her 
house  to  Lancaster  prison  again,  by  an  order  obtained 
from  the  King  and  Council  to  fetch  her  back  to  prison 
upon  the  old  Praemunire,  though  she  had  been  dis- 
charged from  that  imprisonment  by  their  order  the 
year  before.  The  old  persecutor,  Colonel  Kirkby,  was 
the  informer,  and  some  at  least  of  the  Fell  family 
believed  that  George  Fell  had  been  privy  to  the 
scheme. 

The  second  imprisonment  of  Margaret  Fox  lasted 
about  a  year  (March  1670— April  1671).  Two  of  her 
daughters  went  at  once  to  petition  the  King  on  her 
behalf,  and  actually  obtained  his  order  for  her  release, 
but  when  they  took  it  down  into  Lancashire,  Colonel 
Kirkby  and  his  brother  magistrates,  by  some  device 
which  is  not  very  clearly  explained,  contrived  to  treat 
it  as  of  no  validity.  The  matter  had  to  sleep  for  a 
time,  for  1670  was  a  bad  year  for  Nonconformists. 
Archbishop  Sheldon  was  in  his  most  persecuting  humour, 
and  the  Conventicle  Act  had  just  been  renewed  with 
heavier  penalties  than  ever  on  offenders  against  it.  In 
fact,  this  seems  to  have  furnished  the  magistrates  with 
a  plea  for  disregarding  the  King's  order. 

However,  at  last,  in  April  1671,  the  desired  deliver- 
ance came.    As  Fox  says,  "  Now  the  persecution  a 


218 


GEORGE  FOX 


little  ceasing,  I  was  moved  to  speak  to  Martha  Fisher 
and  another  Friend  to  go  to  the  King  about  my  wife's 
liberty.  They  went  in  faith  and  in  the  Lord's  power, 
who  gave  them  favour  with  the  King,  so  that  he  granted 
a  discharge  under  the  broad  seal,  to  clear  both  her 
and  her  estate,  after  she  had  been  ten  years 1  a  prisoner 
and  praemunired ;  the  like  whereof  was  scarcely  to  be 
heard  of  in  England." 

According  to  a  letter  from  Margaret  Fox  to  her 
son-in-law  Rous,  we  learn  that  "the  two  women 
Friends  took  the  grant  out  of  the  Attorney-General's 
office,  and  he  gave  them  his  fee,  which  should  have 
been  five  pounds,  and  his  clerk  took  but  twenty 
shillings,  whereas  his  fee  was  forty.  Yesterday  they 
went  with  it  to  the  King,  who  signed  it  in  the  Council, 
and  Arlington  also  signed  it,  but  would  take  no  fees, 
whereas  his  fees  would  have  been  £12  or  £20.  Neither 
would  Williamson's  man  take  anything,  saying  that 
if  any  religion  be  true  it  is  ours.  To-morrow  it  is  to 
pass  the  signet,  and  on  Sixth-day  [Friday]  the  privy 
seal,  and  afterwards  the  broad  seal,  which  may  be  done 
on  any  day.  The  power  of  the  Lord  hath  bound  their 
hearts  wonderfully.  Blessed  be  His  name  for  ever."2 
So  ended  the  last  imprisonment  of  the  late  mistress  of 
Swarthmoor. 

1  Sic:  it  should  have  been  seven,  or  more  strictly  live  and 
a  half. 

2  Fells  of  Swarthmoor  Hall,  p.  272. 


MARRIAGE 


219 


NOTE 

MARGARET  FELL'S  DESCENDANTS 

As  it  is  only  through  these  step-children  of  his  that 
George  Fox  is  in  any  way  linked  with  succeeding 
generations,1  it  may  be  worth  while  to  give  a  brief 
account  of  them  here.  Moreover,  some  of  the  sons-in- 
law  were  men  who  themselves  played  an  important 
part  in  the  early  history  of  Quakerism. 

George  Fell,  the  undutiful  son,  died  not  many  years 
after  his  mother's  second  marriage.  His  son  sold  most 
of  the  family  property  to  a  representative  of  the  female 
line.  His  grandson  married  William  Penn's  grand- 
daughter, but  no  other  connection  with  Quakerism  was 
kept  up  by  this,  the  direct  line  of  the  Fells  of  Swarth- 
moor  Hall,  and  it  seems  to  have  died  out  near  the 
close  of  last  century. 

Margaret,  the  oldest  of  the  seven  daughters,  married 
a  Quaker  named  John  Rous,  a  West  Indian  merchant 
in  good  circumstances,  who  resided  in  London,  and 
whose  influence,  as  he  was  a  man  of  some  importance 
in  the  City,  was  often  successfully  exercised  on  behalf 
of  his  imprisoned  friends  and  relatives.  When  George 
Fox  undertook  the  long  journey  to  the  West  Indies 
and  the  American  continent,  which  will  be  described  in 
the  next  chapter,  his  son-in-law  John  Rous  was  his 
zealous  and  most  helpful  companion. 

Isabel,  the  third  daughter,  married,  as  has  been  said, 

1  The  various  families  of  Fox,  who  now  form  one  of  the  most 
numerous  and  influential  Quaker  clans,  are  descended  from 
Francis  Fox  of  St.  Germans  in  Cornwall,  and  have  not  the 
remotest  connection  with  the  founder  of  Quakerism, 


220 


GEORGE  FOX 


William  Yeamans  of  Bristol,  the  son  of  the  suspended 
sheriff,  and  it  was  at  her  house  that  the  marriage  of 
George  Fox  and  Margaret  Fell  was  finally  settled. 

Sarah,  the  fourth  daughter,  married  William  Meade, 
who  became  a  minister  in  the  Society  of  Friends.  His 
name  is  one  of  historic  importance,  as  he  was  fellow- 
defendant  with  William  Penn  in  that  celebrated  trial 
at  the  Old  Bailey  (August  29,  1670),  which  became  a 
leading  case  in  the  law  relating  to  juries.  He  was  a 
landowner  of  some  importance  in  the  county  of  Essex. 
His  son  Nathaniel  severed  his  connection  with  Quaker- 
ism, became  a  Serjeant-at-law,  was  knighted,  and  died 
apparently  without  issue  in  1760. 

Mary,  the  fifth  daughter,  married  Thomas  Lower, 
who  was  perhaps  the  most  helpful,  personally,  to  George 
Fox  of  all  his  wife's  sons-in-law.  He  was  brother  to  the 
celebrated  Richard  Lower,  M.D.,  an  early  Fellow  of  the 
Royal  Society,  and  his  influence  with  some  of  the 
aristocratic  patrons  of  that  society  was,  as  we  have  seen, 
successfully  exerted  to  obtain  Margaret  Fell's  first  release 
from  imprisonment.  Thomas  Lower  was  the  owner  of 
a  good  property  in  Cornwall,  and  was  one  of  those 
Cornishmen  who  were  converted  to  Quakerism  by  what 
they  saw  and  heard  of  George  Fox's  demeanour  during 
his  cruel  imprisonment  in  Launceston  Castle.  His 
first  wife  was  that  "  Elizabeth  Trelawney,  a  baronet's 
daughter,"  whom  we  have  before  heard  of  as  convinced 
by  Fox's  preaching  at  Plymouth.  Six  years  after  her 
death  Thomas  Lower  married  Mary  Fell.  His  mother- 
in-law  that  was  to  be  seems  to  have  at  first  frowned 
upon  his  courtship,  but  must  afterwards  have  repented 
of  her  opposition,  for,  as  has  been  said,  there  was  no 
more  brave  or  patient  helper  of  what  was  called  "  the 


MARRIAGE 


221 


cause  of  Truth"  than  Thomas  Lower.  He  shared 
George  Fox's  last  imprisonment  in  Worcester  Gaol. 

Rachel,  the  youngest  daughter,  who  was  only  five 
years  old  at  her  father's  death,  married  Daniel  Abraham, 
the  son  of  a  merchant  at  Manchester  who  had  joined 
the  Society  of  Friends.  He  bought  Swarthmoor  Hall 
of  his  nephew  Squire  George's  son,  about  1690,  and 
it  remained  in  his  family  for  sixty  years.  Most  of  the 
descendants  of  Margaret  Fell  who  are  still  members  of 
the  Society,  Thirnbecks,  Graces,  Thorps,  Shackletons, 
etc.,  are  derived  from  this  branch  of  the  family,  which 
has  contributed  of  recent  times  one  "  clerk "  and  two 
"  assistant  clerks,"  or  in  other  words  one  Speaker  and 
two  Deputy-Speakers,  to  the  Quaker  Parliament. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


VISIT  TO  AMERICA 

The  year  1670,  in  which  Margaret  Fell's  second 
imprisonment  took  place,  was,  as  has  been  said,  one  of 
grievous  oppression  for  Nonconformists  generally.  The 
bigoted  Cavalier  Parliament  passed,  contrary  to  the 
King's  wishes,  a  new  and  sharper  Conventicle  Act,  by 
which  any  meeting  for  worship  otherwise  than  according 
to  the  practice  of  the  Church  of  England,  at  which 
more  than  four  persons  should  be  present,  was  declared 
to  be  an  illegal  conventicle.  Every  adult  attender  at 
such  a  meeting  was  liable  to  a  fine  of  five  shillings  for 
the  first  offence,  and  ten  shillings  for  the  second,  while 
the  preachers  thereat  were  to  be  fined  £20  and  £40 
respectively.  In  every  case  one-third  of  the  fines  was 
to  go  to  the  informer — an  admirable  expedient  for  the 
manufacture  of  scoundrels — magistrates  and  constables 
were  empowered  to  break  open  doors,  and  deputy- 
lieutenants  and  militia  officers  were  to  use  horse  and  foot 
for  the  dispersion  of  the  illegal  assemblies.  A  strange 
fulfilment  certainly  of  His  Majesty's  gracious  Declaration 
from  Breda  for  the  relief  of  tender  consciences.  In 
justice  to  the  King  it  must  be  repeated  that  all  this 
blind  bigotry  was  the  Parliament's  work,  not  his,  and 
that  he  only  acquiesced  in  it  because  the  expensive 

222 


VISIT  TO  AMERICA 


223 


revelries  of  Whitehall  made  him  dependent  on  Parlia- 
ment for  money. 

The  storm  of  renewed  persecution  fell  upon  the 
Quaker  Society  at  the  beginning  of  1671.  Fox 
considers  that  it  was  caused  by  the  riotous  conduct  of  a 
certain  John  Fox,  a  Presbyterian  minister  who  tried  by 
force  to  retain  possession  of  a  village  church  in  Wiltshire, 
where  he  had  been  allowed  to  preach.  He  asserts  that 
this  John  Fox  was  often  mistaken  for  himself  (so  that 
people  were  accustomed  to  say  that  George  Fox  had 
changed  from  a  Quaker  to  a  Presbyterian),  and  that 
this  confusion  caused  it  to  be  supposed  that  the 
Friends  were  resorting  to  force  in  order  to  redress 
their  grievances.  This  explanation  may  be  true  as  far 
as  it  goes,  but  it  seems  clear  from  the  Parliamentary 
history  of  the  times  that  other  and  larger  causes  were 
at  work  to  produce  the  fierce  Conventicle  Act  of  1670. 

At  any  rate  Fox  was  not  going  to  hide  his  head  from 
the  storm  which  was  bursting  on  his  followers.  On  the 
first  Sunday  after  the  Act  came  in  force,  he  went  to 
Gracechurch  Street,  where,  as  he  says,  "  I  expected  the 
storm  was  most  likely  to  begin."  The  street  was  full  of 
people,  and  soldiers  were  guarding  the  entrances,  but 
he  contrived  to  get  in,  if  not  to  the  meeting-house  itself, 
to  the  court  in  front  of  it,  where  another  Friend  was 
then  preaching  to  the  people.  As  soon  as  he  had 
finished,  Fox  stood  up  and  preached  on  the  text,  "  Saul, 
Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  Me  ? "  After  he  had  spoken 
for  some  time  there  came  the  expected  constable  with 
a  guard  of  soldiers,  and  the  informer,  who  hoped  to 
reap  a  good  harvest  of  fines  from  the  Quaker  preachers. 
Fox,  with  two  other  Friends,  was  marched  off  first  to 
the  Royal  Exchange,  and  then  towards  Moorfields,  the 


224 


GEORGE  FOX 


mob  jeering  at  the  constable  and  this  armed  guard,  and 
saying,  "Your  prisoners  will  not  run  away."  On  the 
road  the  informer  got  into  conversation  with  one  of 
the  company,  and  said,  "  It  will  never  be  a  good  world 
till  all  peeple  come  to  the  good  old  religion  that  was 
two  hundred  years  ago."  Hereupon  George  Fox  turned 
sharply  round,  "Art  thou  a  Papist?  What,  a  Papist 
informer  ?  Two  hundred  vears  ago  there  was  no  religion 
but  that  of  the  Papists."  The  man  saw  that  he  had 
betrayed  himself,  and  when  they  came  to  the  Lord 
Mayor's  room  tried  to  back  out  of  the  case,  and  refused 
to  give  his  own  name.  With  difficulty  he  persuaded 
the  porter  to  let  him  out  of  the  house,  and  when  he 
came  into  the  street,  the  people  gave  a  ringing  shout, 
"  A  Papist  informer  !  a  Papist  informer  !  "  By  Fox's 
desire,  the  constable  and  soldiers  were  sent  out  to 
protect  the  hunted  huntsman,  which  they  did,  not 
without  difficulty.  He  was  led  into  a  house  in  a  side 
alley,  changed  his  periwig,  and  got  away  unknown. 

This  ludicrous  incident  caused  the  collapse  of  the 
case.  The  Lord  Mayor  gave  the  Friends  a  little  fatherly 
advice  on  obedience  to  the  Act,  asking  them  why 
they  could  not  be  satisfied  to  meet  together  no  more 
than  four  at  a  time,  since  Christ  had  promised  His 
blessing  even  to  the  two  or  the  three ;  but  Fox  not 
unfairly  urged  the  precedent  of  the  twelve  apostles  and 
the  seventy  disciples,  whose  meetings  would  certainly 
have  been  rendered  unlawful  by  the  Conventicle  Act,  and 
who  would  as  certainly  have  disobeyed  it.  He  was  soon 
set  at  liberty,  and  when  his  companions  asked  him 
whither  he  would  go,  he  answered,  "  To  Gracechurch 
Street  meeting,  if  ft  be  not  yet  over."  Practically, 
however,  when  they  reached  the  meeting-house,  they 


VISIT  TO  AMERICA 


225 


found  the  meeting  at  an  end;  so  they  wont  into  the 
house  of  a  Friend,  and  sent  out  messengers  to  inquire 
how  the  other  meetings  in  the  City  had  passed  off. 
"  I  understood,"  he  says,  "  that  at  some  of  the  meeting- 
places  Friends  were  kept  out ;   at  others  they  were 
taken,  but  set  at  liberty  again  a  few  days  after.  A 
glorious  time  it  was,  for  the  Lord's  power  came  over  all, 
and  His  everlasting  truth  got  renown.    For  as  fast  as 
some  that  were  speaking  were  taken  down,  others  were 
moved  of  the  Lord  to  stand  up  and  speak,  to  the 
admiration  of  the  people ;  and  the  more  because  many 
Baptists  and  other  sectaries  left  their  public  meetings, 
and  came  to  see  how  the  Quakers  would  stand.    As  for 
the  informer  aforesaid,  he  was  so  frightened,  that  there 
durst  hardly  any  informer  appear  publicly  again  in 
London  for  some  time  after.    But  the  Mayor,  whose 
name  was  Samuel  Starling,  though  he  carried  himself 
smoothly  towards  us,  proved  afterwards  a  very  great 
persecutor  of  our  Friends,  many  of  whom  he  cast  into 
prison,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  trials  of  W.  Penn,  W. 
Meade  and  others,  at  the  Old  Bailey,  this  year."  This 
was  that  celebrated  trial  to  which  allusion  has  already 
been  made,  as  a  leading  case  on  the  liberty  of  the 
subject,  and  the  rights  and  duties  of  jurors. 

Through  all  this  year,  1670,  the  persecution  raged 
without  abatement,  especially  in  London.  Colonel 
Kirkby,  Fox's  old  adversary,  was  forward  in  the  cruel 
work,  going  about  with  a  squad  of  foot-soldiers  to  break 
up  meetings  and  drag  away  the  preachers  to  prison, 
and  always  asking  if  Fox  were  present,  but  asking  in 
vain.  For  in  fact,  during  all  the  winter  months,  Fox 
was  laid  up  at  a  Friend's  bouse  at  Stratford,  with  a 
strange  sickness,  the  result  doubtless  of  his  old  hard- 

Q 


226 


GEORGE  FOX 


ships  in  prison.  He  became  blind  and  deaf,  and  believed 
that  he  was  reduced  to  that  condition  "  as  a  sign  to 
such  as  would  not  see  and  would  not  hear  the  truth." 
It  was  generally  expected  that  his  sickness  would 
be  fatal,  and  in  fact  the  rumour  of  his  death  got  abroad 
both  in  London  and  the  country;  but  he  had  a  per- 
suasion that  his  work  was  not  yet  ended.  First  a  little 
glimmering  of  sight  came  back  to  him  ;  then  he  grew 
strong  enough  to  be  moved  to  Enfield,  where  he  spent 
the  rest  of  the  winter ;  and  at  last,  about  April,  he  was 
again  preaching  in  the  meeting-house  at  Gracechurch 
Street,  where  he  says,  "  though  I  was  yet  but  weak,  the 
Lord's  power  upheld,  and  enabled  me  to  declare  His 
eternal  word  of  life." 

And  now,  in  the  spring  of  1671,  his  wife  being  liber- 
ated from  prison,  the  reader  expects  to  hear  of  their 
having  a  few  quiet  years  together  at  peaceful  Swarth- 
moor.  Not  so.  After  giving  the  account  of  her  liber- 
ation quoted  in  the  previous  chapter,  he  continues — 
"  I  sent  down  the  discharge  forthwith  by  a  Friend ;  by 
whom  also  I  wrote  to  her,  informing  her  how  to  get  it 
delivered  to  the  Justices,  and  acquainting  her  that  it 
was  upon  me  from  the  Lord,  to  go  beyond  the  seas  to 
visit  America ;  and  therefore  desired  her  to  hasten  to 
London  as  soon  as  she  could  conveniently  after  she  had 
obtained  her  liberty,  because  the  ship  was  then  fitting 
out  for  the  voyage."  She  obeyed  his  directions,  joined 
him  at  her  son-in-law  Rous' s  house  at  Kingston,  and 
on  the  12th  of  August,  1671,  went  down  with  him  to 
Gravesend,  to  see  him  off  for  America  on  board  the 
"  yacht "  Industry.  There  was  a  large  party  of  Friends 
on  board,  ten  men  preachers,  including  John  Rous, 
besides  Fox,  and  two  women,  but  there  does  not  seem 


VISIT  TO  AMERICA 


227 


to  have  been  even  a  suggestion  that  Margaret  Fox 
should  accompany  the  husband  from  whom  she  had 
been  so  strangely  parted  since  their  marriage. 

The  ship  in  which  the  Friends  sailed  was  "  counted 
a  very  swift  sailer,"  but  was  very  leaky,  and  kept  both 
sailors  and  passengers  working  at  the  pumps  night  and 
day.  "One  day  they  observed  that  in  two  hours' time 
she  sucked  in  sixteen  inches  of  water  at  the  well."  One 
is  often  reminded,  in  reading  the  account  of  seventeenth- 
century  voyages,  how  much  the  regulations  and  the  in- 
spection insisted  upon  by  the  fraternity  of  under-writers, 
have  since  then  raised  the  standard  of  sea-worthiness 
in  ships,  and  added  to  the  safety  of  human  life. 

There  were  not  only  perils  of  waters,  but  also  perils 
from  sea-robbers  to  be  encountered.  A  "  Sallee  man- 
of-war,"  or  in  other  words  a  Barbary  pirate,  chased  the 
Industry  for  several  days.  In  his  distress  and  anxiety, 
the  master  invited  George  Fox  into  his  cabin,  and  was 
comforted  and  enheartened  by  his  passenger's  strong 
conviction  that  "  the  Lord's  life  and  power  was  placed 
between  us  and  the  ship  that  pursued  us."  After  the 
peril  was  past,  and  the  pursuer  had  disappeared,  he  and 
some  of  his  sailors  tried  to  persuade  the  passengers  that 
it  was  not  a  Turkish  pirate  that  had  chased  them,  but 
a  merchantman  going  to  the  Canaries  ;  but  on  landing 
at  Barbadoes  they  found  that  she  had  been  a  "  Sallee 
rover  "  after  all. 

Though  not  suffering,  like  most  of  the  other  passen- 
gers, from  sea-sickness,  George  Fox,  whose  constitution, 
as  I  have  said,  was  thoroughly  broken  down,  suffered 
both  on  the  voyage  and  for  some  weeks  after  landing 
at  Barbadoes,  from  a  severe  illness,  which,  from  his 
description  of  it,  looks  like  a  protracted  spell  of  rheu- 


228 


GEORGE  FOX 


matic  fever.  Happily  be  was  not  now  in  his  chilly 
prison  at  Scarbro',  but  in  the  house  of  one  of  the 
chief  merchants  of  the  island,  Thomas  Rous,  himself  a 
Friend,  and  father  of  John  Rous,  Fox's  son-in-law 
and  companion.  In  these  circumstances  it  may  be 
supposed  that  his  bodily  comforts  were  well  attended  to. 
Though  unable  to  travel  about  much,  he  used  his  pen 
freely,  and  addressed  several  meetings  of  Friends  held 
for  his  convenience  at  the  house  of  his  host.  The  object 
of  this  journey  both  to  the  West  Indies  and  to  the 
American  continent  was  not  so  rmich  to  gather  in  fresh 
converts,  as  to  impress  upon  those  who  had  already  in 
large  numbers  joined  the  Society,  the  duty  of  living  holy 
and  righteous  lives,  and  bringing  no  discredit  on  their 
new  profession.  Like  a  modern  missionary  to  the  dwel- 
lers by  the  Ganges,  "  he  had  to  warn  Friends  against 
allowing  their  children  to  marry  too  young,  as  at  thirteen 
and  fourteen  years  of  age,  showing  them  the  incon- 
venience thereof,  and  the  inconveniences  and  hurts  that 
attend  such  childish  marriages."  "  I  admonished  them," 
he  says,  "  to  purge  the  floor  thoroughly,  to  sweep  their 
houses  very  clean,  that  nothing  might  remain  that  would 
defile,  and  to  take  care  that  nothing  be  spoken  out  of 
their  meetings  to  the  blemishing  or  defaming  one  of 
another."  The  registration  of  marriages,  births,  and 
burials,  the  provision  of  convenient  burying-places  for 
Friends,  and  the  right  appropriation  of  legacies  for 
charitable  purposes,  were  also  carefully  provided  for  by 
this  thoroughly  practical  apostle  of  the  new  communit}'. 
His  language  as  to  slavery  is  so  interesting,  in  view  of 
the  later  "  testimony  "  of  his  followers  against  all  slavery, 
that  it  is  worth  quoting  in  full.  "  Then  as  to  their 
blacks  or  negroes,  I  desired  them  to  endeavour  to  train 


VISIT  TO  AMERICA 


229 


them  up  in  the  fear  of  God,  those  that  were  bought,  and 
those  born  in  their  families,  that  all  might  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord  ;  that  so  with  Joshua,  every 
member  of  a  family  might  say, '  As  for  me  and  my  house, 
we  will  serve  the  Lord.'  I  desired  them  also  that  they 
would  cause  their  overseers  to  deal  mildly  and  gently 
with  their  negroes,  and  not  use  cruelty  towards  them  as 
the  manner  of  some  hath  been  and  is ;  and  that  after 
certain  years  of  servitude  they  would  make  them  free." 

It  was  during  his  stay  in  this  island  that  Fox,  with 
the  help  of  his  friends,  in  answer  to  some  calumnious 
misrepresentations  of  their  doctrines,  drew  up  a  paper — ■ 
"  For  the  Governor  of  Barbadoes  with  his  Council  and 
Assembly,  and  all  others  in  power,  both  civil  and  mili- 
tary, in  this  Island,  from  the  people  called  Quakers." 
This  paper  has  attracted  a  good  deal  of  attention  from 
the  fact  that  it  is  the  nearest  approach  to  a  formal 
creed  that  the  Society  has  ever  promulgated.  It  has 
been  often  reprinted,  and  is  much  too  long  for  insertion 
here;  but  three  important  sentences  may  be  quoted. 
After  professing  belief  in  the  only  wise,  omnipotent, 
and  everlasting  God,  it  continues — "  And  we  own  and 
believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  beloved  and  only  begotten 
Son,  in  whom  He  is  well  pleased,  who  was  conceived  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  bom  of  the  Virgin  Mary;  in  whom 
we  have  redemption  through  His  blood,  even  the  for- 
giveness of  sins ;  who  is  the  express  image  of  the 
Invisible  God,  the  first-born  of  every  creature,  by  whom 
were  all  things  created  that  are  in  heaven  and  that  are 
in  earth,  visible  and  invisible,  whether  they  be  thrones 
or  dominions,  principalities  or  powers,  all  things  were 
created  by  Him.  And  we  do  own  and  believe  that  He 
was  made  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  who  knew  no  sin,  neither 


230 


GEORGE  FOX 


was  guile  found  in  His  mouth ;  that  He  was  crucified 
for  us  in  the  flesh,  without  the  gates  of  Jerusalem ; 
and  that  He  was  buried,  and  rose  again  the  third  day 
by  the  power  of  the  Father,  for  our  justification ;  and 
that  He  ascended  up  into  heaven,  and  now  sitteth  at 
the  right  hand  of  God.  This  Jesus,  who  was  the 
foundation  of  the  holy  prophets  and  apostles,  is  our 
foundation ;  and  we  believe  that  there  is  no  other 
foundation  to  be  laid  than  that  which  is  laid,  even 
Christ  Jesus :  who  tasted  death  for  every  man,  shed 
His  blood  for  all  men,  and  is  the  propitiation  for  our 
sins,  and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the 
whole  world ;  according  as  John  the  Baptist  testified 
of  Him  when  he  said,  '  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  that 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.' " 

Towards  the  end  of  this  interesting  document,  the 
Friends  repel  "  another  slander  which  had  been  cast 
upon  them,  that  they  taught  the  negroes  to  rebel." 
This  is,  they  say,  "  a  thing  we  utterly  abhor  in  our 
hearts  :  the  Lord  knows  it,  who  is  the  searcher  of  all 
hearts,  and  knows  all  things,  and  can  testify  for  us  that 
this  is  a  most  abominable  untruth.  For  that  which  we 
have  spoken  to  them  is  to  exhort  and  admonish  them 
to  be  sober  and  to  fear  God,  to  love  their  masters  and 
mistresses  and  to  be  faithful  and  diligent  in  their  masters' 
service  and  business,  and  then  their  masters  and  over- 
seers would  love  them  and  deal  gently  and  kindly  with 
them  ;  also  that  they  should  not  beat  their  wives,  nor 
the  wives  their  husbands,  neither  should  the  men  have 
many  wives ;  that  they  should  not  steal  or  be  drunk, 
should  not  commit  adultery  or  fornication,  should  not 
curse,  swear,  lie  or  give  bad  words  to  one  another  or  to 
any  one  else ;  for  there  is  something  in  them  that  tells 


VISIT  TO  AMERICA 


231 


theni  they  should  not  practise  these  or  any  other 
evils." 

Early  in  the  new  year  (1672),  Fox  and  four  of  his 
friends  set  sail  for  Jamaica,  which  they  reached  after  a 
week's  voyage.  They  travelled  up  and  down  through 
this  island,  Oliver  Cromwell's  great  addition  to  "  England 
heyond  the  sea,"  and  Fox  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  was  "  a  brave  country,  though  the  people  in  it  were, 
many  of  them,  debauched  and  wicked."  While  they 
were  there,  the  venerable  Elizabeth  Hooton,  one  of  the 
little  band  of  missionaries,  died.  "  She  was  well  the 
day  before  she  died,  and  departed  in  peace,  like  a  lamb, 
bearing  testimony  to  truth  at  her  departure." 

On  March  8,  1672,  they  set  sail  for  the  American 
continent.  Contrary  winds  so  delayed  them,  that  they 
were  a  week  sailing  backward  and  forward  before  they 
could  lose  sight  of  land.  Then  came  great  storms  as 
they  crossed  the  Gulf  of  Florida,  and  it  was  not  till  six 
or  seven  weeks  after  their  leaving  Jamaica  that  they 
finally  cast  anchor  in  the  Patuxent  river,  in  the  province 
of  Maryland,  on  the  western  side  of  the  bay  of  Chesa- 
peake. By  far  the  greater  number  of  the  Friends  who 
had  found  their  way  to  America  by  the  time  of  George 
Fox's  visit,  were  settled  either  in  Maryland  or  in  Rhode 
Island,  the  natural  consequence  of  the  large  measure  of 
religious  toleration  which  those  two  colonies  almost 
alone  among  the  American  settlements  at  this  time 
enjoyed.  In  Maryland  religious  freedom  was  the  result 
of  the  peculiar  position  of  the  founder  and  proprietor 
of  the  colony,  Lord  Baltimore,  who,  himself  a  Roman 
Catholic,  could  only  obtain  for  "  Holy  Church  within 
this  province  the  enjoyment  of  all  her  rights  and 
liberties,"  by  guaranteeing  "to  all  free  Christian  in- 


232 


GEORGE  FOX 


habitants  the  enjoyment  of  all  such  rights  and  liberties 
as  any  natural  born  subject  of  England  ought  to  enjoy 
in  the  realm  of  England."  1  In  other  words,  the  Papist 
in  Maryland  in  1639  had  obtained  for  the  extreme  Pro- 
testant that  toleration  which  the  Papist  King  James 
II.  granted  him  in  England  for  a  short  space  in  16S7. 

In  Rhode  Island  the  toleration  conceded  to  the 
Friends  was  due  to  the  wise  counsels  of  that  noble 
man,  who  more  than  any  other  deserves  to  be  called 
the  Apostle  of  Toleration,  Roger  Williams.  Williams 
hated  the  doctrines  of  Quakerism,  and  was  willing  to 
debate  against  them  with  all  the  energy  of  his  fiery 
Welsh  nature,  but  to  persecute  them,  or  to  expel  them 
from  that  asylum  of  free  thought,  the  province  of 
Rhode  Island,  he  steadily  refused.  Thus  in  those 
terrible  years  1659 — 1661,  when  Massachusetts,  under 
the  guidance  of  the  gloomy  bigot,  John  Endicott,  was 
staining  her  hands  indelibly  by  the  blood  of  the  four 
Quaker  Martyrs,2  Friends  had  been  left  unmolested  in 
Rhode  Island.  Some  of  George  Fox's  happiest  memories 
were  connected  with  his  visit  to  his  followers  in  this 
brave  little  colony,  a  visit  which  he  thus  describes — ■ 
"  This  meeting  lasted  six  days,  the  first  four  days  being 
general  public  meetings  for  worship,  to  which  abundance 
of  other  people  came ;  for  they  having  no  priest  in  the 
island,  and  so  no  restriction  to  any  particular  way  of 
worship,  and  both  the  governor  and  deputy-governor, 
with  several  justices  of  the  peace,  daily  frequenting  the 
meetings,  this  so  encouraged  the  people  that  they  flocked 
in  from  all  parts  of  the  island.    Very  good  service  we 

1  See  Gardiner,  History  of  England,  viii.  180—181  (Ed.  1884). 

2  William  Robinson,  Marmaduke  Robinson,  Mary  Dyer,  and 
William  Leddra,  all  hung  at  Boston  for  no  other  offence  but 
simply  venturing  to  set  foot  within  the  colony. 


VISIT  TO  AMERICA 


233 


had  amongst  them,  and  truth  had  a  good  reception.  I 
have  rarely  observed  people  in  the  state  wherein  they 
stood,  hear  with  more  attention,  diligence,  and  affection 
than  they  generally  did,  during  the  four  days  together, 
which  also  was  taken  notice  of  by  other  Friends." 

Rhode  Island  was  the  only  New  England  colony 
visited  by  Fox.  Massachusetts,  though  no  longer 
actually  putting  Quaker  intruders  to  death,  still  barred 
her  doors  against  them,  as  also  did  Connecticut,  though 
with  somewhat  less  fierceness  of  attitude.  No  one  who 
has  studied  Fox's  character  attentively  will  suppose 
that  it  was  want  of  courage  which  prevented  his  visit- 
ing those  colonies.  His  work  on  this  mission  was  not 
so  much  that  of  extending",  as  of  "  confirming  the 
churches,"  and  apparently  in  1G72  there  were  no 
Quaker  churches  to  confirm  in  the  large  colonies  of 
New  England. 

His  time  in  America  was  therefore  chiefly  taken  up 
in  the  above-mentioned  visit  to  Rhode  Island,  in  labours 
among  the  Friends  scattered  in  considerable  numbers 
along  the  eastern  and  western  shores  of  the  Chesapeake 
Bay  in  the  colony  of  Maryland,  in  a  visit  to  Virginia, 
"  where  things  were  much  out  of  order,"  and  in  a  short 
incursion  into  North  Carolina.  All  these  journeys 
involved  the  endurance  of  many  hardships.  Between 
Maryland  and  New  England  the  journey  had  to  be 
made  by  land,  through  "  the  wilderness  country  since 
called  New  Jersey,  not  then  inhabited  by  English,"  so 
that  they  often  travelled  a  whole  day  together  without 
seeing  man  or  woman,  house  or  dwelling-place.  In 
the  course  of  this  double  journey  to  and  fro  across  New 
Jersey,  Fox  and  his  companions  may  have  passed  almost 
within  sight  of  the  woods  on  the  other  side  of  the  river 


234 


GEORGE  FOX 


Delaware,  which  were  one  day  to  give  place  to  the  mighty 
"  Quaker  City  "  of  Philadelphia. 

Such  entries  as  this  are  of  frequent  occurrence  in 
the  Journal — "  Our  boat  being  open,  the  water  splashed 
often  in  and  sometimes  over  us,  so  that  we  were  com- 
pletely wet.  Being  got  to  land,  we  made  a  fire  in  the 
woods  to  warm  and  dry  us,  and  there  we  lay  all  night, 
the  wolves  howling  about  us."  "  On  the  27th  [of 
January]  we  had  a  very  precious  meeting  in  a  tobacco- 
house,  and  next  day  returned  to  James  Preston's,  about 
eighteen  miles  distant.  When  we  came  there  we  found 
his  house  was  burnt  to  the  ground  the  night  before, 
through  the  carelessness  of  a  servant ;  so  we  lay  three 
nights  on  the  ground  by  the  fire,  the  weather  being 
cold."  "On  the  12th  of  the  month  [February]  we  set 
forward  in  our  boat,  and  travelling  by  night,  ran  aground 
in  a  creek  near  Manokin  river.  There  we  were  fain 
to  stay  till  morning,  when  the  tide  came  and  lifted  her 
off.  In  the  meantime,  sitting  in  an  open  boat,  and  the 
weather  being  bitterly  cold,  some  of  us  had  like  to 
have  lost  the  use  of  our  hands,  they  were  so  frozen 
and  benumbed  with  cold."  All  these  hardships,  so 
unlike  the  experience  of  most  men  who  now  set  forth 
on  a  preaching  tour,  were  endured  by  a  man  now  in 
full  middle  life,  who  was  prematurely  aged  by  the 
rigours  of  his  many  imprisonments,  and  who  seems  to 
have  had  rheumatic  fever,  or  something  like  it,  always 
hanging  about  him. 

Fox's  interest  was  evidently  much  aroused  by  the 
aboriginal  inhabitants  of  North  America.  To  him, 
who  believed  that  a  certain  measure  of  the  Divine 
Light  was  vouchsafed  to  every  reasonable  human  being 
who  was  born  into  the  world,  and  who  preached,  in  some 


VISIT  TO  AMERICA 


235 


respects,  a  more  universal  gospel  than  any  of  his  con- 
temporaries, the  North  American  Indians  were  naturally 
an  interesting  field  for  inquiry,  and  for  evangelistic 
labour.  Not,  however,  that  he  was  by  any  means  the 
first  to  conceive  the  idea  of  preaching  Christianity  to 
the  Indians,  for  Thomas  May  hew  had  begun  that 
difficult  work  nearly  thirty  years  before  Fox  landed  in 
America,  and  John  Eliot  had  been  prosecuting  it  since 
1G46  with  considerable  success.1  Still,  considering  the 
comparatively  short  time  that  Fox  spent  in  America, 
his  references  to  the  Indians  are  numerous  and  valuable. 
When  he  was  in  North  Carolina,  he  had  a  friendly 
reception  from  the  Governor  and  his  wife,  but  a  doctor 
who  was  at  the  Government  House  insisted  on  con- 
troversy. "  And  truly,"  says  Fox,  "  his  opposing  us 
was  of  good  service,  giving  occasion  for  the  opening  of 
many  things  to  the  people  concerning  the  light  and 
Spirit  of  God,  which  he  denied  to  be  in  every  one, 
and  affirmed  that  it  was  not  in  the  Indians.  Whereupon 
I  called  an  Indian  to  us,  and  asked  him,  '  Whether  or 
not,  when  he  lied  or  did  wrong  to  any  one,  there  was 
not  something  in  him  that  reproved  him  for  it  ? '  He 
said, '  There  was  such  a  thing  in  him  that  did  so  reprove 
him,  and  he  was  ashamed  when  he  had  done  wrong  or 
spoken  wrong.'  So  we  shamed  the  doctor  before  the 
Governor  and  the  people,  insomuch  that  the  poor  man 
ran  out  so  far  that  at  length  he  would  not  own  the 
Scriptures." 

At  one  of  his  earliest  meetings  on  the  eastern  shore 
of  Maryland,  Fox  felt  himself  called  to  invite  "  the 
Indian  Emperor  and  his  kings  "  to  attend  the  meeting. 
The  Emperor  came  punctually;  his  kings,  who  were 
1  See  Fiske's  Beginnings  of  New  England,  201  —  201. 


236 


GEORGE  FOX 


further  off,  could  not  reach  it  in  time,  "  yet  they 
came  afterwards  with  their  cockarooses."  "  I  had,"  he 
says,  "  in  the  evening  two  good  opportunities  with 
them ;  they  heard  the  word  of  the  Lord  willingly,  and 
confessed  to  it.  What  I  spoke  to  them,  I  desired  them 
to  speak  to  their  people,  and  let  them  know  that  God 
was  raising  up  His  tabernacle  of  witness  in  their 
wilderness  country,  and  was  setting  up  His  standard 
and  glorious  ensign  of  righteousness.  They  carried 
themselves  very  courteously  and  lovingly,  and  inquired 
'  where  the  next  meeting  would  be,  and  they  would 
come  to  it' ;  yet  they  said  they  'had  had  a  great  debate 
with  their  council  about  their  coming  before  they  came 
now.' "  So  too  in  the  wilderness  that  was  afterwards 
New  Jersey,  on  Long  Island,  in  the  colony  of  Delaware, 
in  Virginia,  Fox  on  several  occasions  met  the  Bed- 
skinned  huntsmen,  sometimes  an  "  Emperor "  again, 
sometimes  a  priest  or  "  Pawaw,"  always  no  doubt 
very  dimly  comprehending  what  the  leather-garmented 
medicine-man  from  over  the  big  water  wished  to  convey 
to  them,  but  always  behaving  with  stately  courtesy  to 
the  stranger,  and  "  sitting  soberly  "  among  the  white 
men  till  the  end  of  the  meeting.  Perhaps  in  some 
instances  there  was  more  comprehension  of  the  Quaker 
apostle's  message  than  these  words  would  imply.  At 
James  Preston's  house  on  the  Patuxent  river  (that 
house  the  burning  of  which  some  months  afterwards 
caused  the  travellers  to  bivouac  for  three  nights  in  the 
open  air),  "  there  came  to  us,"  says  Fox,  "  an  Indian 
King  with  his  brother,  to  whom  I  spoke,  and  found 
they  understood  what  I  spoke  of." 

At  length  Fox  felt  his  American  mission  ended.  On 
May  21,  1673,  he  and  his  friends  set  sail  for  England. 


VISIT  TO  AMERICA 


237 


They  had  for  some  days  foul  weather  and  contrary 
winds,  and  it  was  not  till  May  31  that  they  got  past 
the  capes  of  Virginia  and  out  into  the  open  sea.  From 
that  time  onwards,  however,  they  had  favourable,  though 
tempestuous  winds,  "  the  waves  rising  like  mountains, 
so  that  the  master  and  sailors  wondered  at  it,  and  said 
they  never  saw  the  like  before."  On  June  28  they 
reached  Bristol,  having  been  absent  from  England 
rather  more  than  a  year  and  ten  months. 


CHAPTER  XV 


THE  LAST  IMPRISONMENT 

Having  landed  at  Shirehampton,  Fox  was  rejoined 
at  Bristol  by  his  wife,  who  came  thither  with  two  of 
her  daughters,  and  her  son-in-law  Thomas  Lower,  and 
was  also  met  by  William  Penn  and  several  other 
Friends  from  different  parts  of  the  country.  A  great 
fair  was  held  at  Bristol  apparently  in  September,  and 
in  connection  therewith  Fox,  unmolested  notwithstand- 
ing the  Conventicle  Act,  held  many  "  glorious  and 
powerful  meetings,"  at  one  of  which  he  preached  a 
sermon  on  the  "  Three  Estates  and  Three  Teachers," 
of  which  he  gives  us  an  abstract.  The  first  estate  is 
that  of  Adam  and  Eve  in  Paradise,  and  their  teacher, 
God.  The  second  estate  is  that  of  the  Fall,  and  is 
caused  by  the  teaching  of  the  Serpent.  The  third 
estate  is  the  dispensation  of  Life  and  Power,  under  the 
teaching  of  Christ  Jesus,  "the  true  gospel-teacher, 
who  bruises  the  head  of  the  Serpent,  the  false  teacher, 
and  the  head  of  all  false  teachers  and  of  all  false 
religions,  false  ways,  false  worships,  and  false  churches." 

After  some  journeyings  in  the  southern  counties, 
and  a  visit  with  his  wife  to  her  son-in-law  John  Rous 
at  Kingston-on-Thames,  Fox  spent  several  weeks  in 
London,  where  he  had  many  controversies  with  the 

238 


THE  LAST  IMPRISONMENT 


239 


Baptists  and  Socinians,  and  "  with  some  old  apostates, 
grown  very  rude,  who  had  printed  many  books  against 
the  Friends." 

After  some  time  they  started,  a  little  family  party, 
on  the  journey  from  London  to  Swarthmoor.  The 
party  consisted  of  George  Fox  and  his  wife,  her 
youngest  and  still  unmarried  daughter  Rachel,  and 
Thomas  Lower,  the  Cornish  son-in-law,  who  was  going 
down  to  Swarthmoor  to  fetch  his  wife  and  child  from 
thence.  They  halted  by  the  way  at  William  Penu's 
house  at  Rickmansworth  (in  fact  it  was  here  that 
Lower  joined  them),  and  then  passed  on  through 
Oxfordshire,  into  Worcestershire.  Fox  had  received  a 
message  that  his  mother,  now  probably  an  old  woman 
of  eighty,  was  on  her  deathbed,  and  longed  to  see  him 
before  she  died.  He  therefore  intended  to  part  company 
from  his  wife  in  Warwickshire,  accomplish  this  visit  to 
old  Mary  Fox  at  Fenny  Drayton,  and  return  to  London 
for  a  time.  But  the  separation  of  husband  and  wife 
came  sooner  than  was  intended,  and  the  farewells  of 
mother  and  son  were  never  said.  After  a  large  meeting 
held  in  a  barn  at  Armscott,  near  Stratford-on-Avon, 
a  magistrate  named  Parker,  and  a  clergyman  named 
Hains,  came  to  the  farmer's  house  where  they  were 
sitting,  and  apprehended  Fox  and  Lower.  The  parson 
and  squire  had  intended  to  be  present  at  the  meeting, 
in  order  to  give  personal  testimony  to  its  illegal  holding, 
but  as  Parker's  baby  had  been  baptized  that  morning 
they  had  sat  a  little  too  long  over  their  wine  at  the 
christening-festival,  and  so  had  missed  their  opportunity. 
This  defect  of  testimony  seems  to  have  tainted  with 
irregularity  most  of  their  subsequent  proceedings. 
However,  there  was  little  doubt  that  the  meeting  in 


240 


GEORGE  FOX 


Armscott  barn  was  a  defiance  of  the  Conventicle  Act. 
Parker  made  out  what  Fox  calls  "a  strange  sort  of 
mittimus,"  and  sent  him  and  Lower  to  prison,  Avhile 
Margaret  Fox  and  her  daughters  were  suffered  to 
proceed  on  their  homeward  journey,  under  the  escort 
of  a  Friend,  a  merchant  from  Bristol,  who,  as  Fox  said, 
"  seemed  to  have  met  us  providentially  to  assist  my 
wife  and  her  daughter  in  their  journey  homewards, 
when  by  our  imprisonment  they  were  deprived  of  our 
company  and  help." 

George  Fox  had  had  some  foreshadowings  in  his  soul 
of  the  coming  trouble,  to  which  he  alludes  in  the 
following  letter  to  his  wife,  written  from  Worcester 
Gaol,  as  soon  as  he  thought  she  would  have  reached 
her  home. 

"  Dear  Heart, 

"  Thou  seemedst  to  be  a  little  grieved  when  I 
was  speaking  of  prisons,  and  when  I  was  taken  :  be 
content  with  the  will  of  the  Lord  God.  For  when  I 
was  at  John  Rous's  at  Kingston  I  had  a  sight  of  my 
being  taken  prisoner,  and  when  I  was  at  Bray  Dolly's 
in  Oxfordshire  [the  night  before  the  arrest],  I  saw  I 
was  taken,  and  I  saw  I  had  a  suffering  to  undergo. 
But  the  Lord's  power  is  over  all ;  blessed  be  His  holy 
name  for  ever. 

"  G.  F." 

The  imprisonment  in  Worcester  Gaol,  thus  begun, 
lasted,  in  a  fashion,  for  fourteen  months  (December 
17,  1673— February  12,  1675),  but  it  had  many  inter- 
ruptions, and  it  was  not  nearly  so  severe  as  any  of 
his  previous  incarcerations.    Thomas  Lower,  who  had 


THE  LAST  IMPRISONMENT 


241 


influential  friends  at  Court,  might  have  been  set  at 
liberty  after  a  few  weeks  if  he  would  have  accepted 
freedom  for  himself  alone.  Writing  to  his  wife  on 
"the  7th  of  11th  month  1673"  (January  7,  1074),  he 
says — "  I  have  received  several  letters  from  London  from 
my  brother  [Dr.  Lower,  the  King's  physician]  touching 
my  liberty,  and  a  letter  from  the  King's  bedchamber 
man  [Henry  Savile]  to  the  Lord  Windsor  [Lord- 
Lieutenant  of  Worcestershire],  his  brother[-in-law],  but 
since  it  only  relates  to  my  particular  enlargement,  I 
have  kept  it  by  me  unsent.  I  thought  it  might  pre- 
judice and  hinder  my  father's  enlargement  if  I  accepted 
of  it ;  for  I  prize  his  liberty  more  than  my  own,  and  so 
have  written  to  my  brother  if  he  cannot  obtain  both 
our  discharges,  not  to  labour  any  farther  for  mine." 1 

There  were  long  and  tedious  proceedings,  both  at 
Quarter  Sessions  and  Assizes,  of  which  George  Fox 
does  not  give  a  very  clear  account,  and  with  which  it 
is  not  necessary  to  weary  the  reader.  It  seems  pretty 
clear  that  for  lack  of  evidence  there  was  no  case  against 
the  prisoners  under  the  Conventicle  Act;  that  they 
ought  to  have  been  discharged ;  and  that  there  was  a 
strong  party  among  the  magistrates  in  favour  of  their 
liberation ;  but  that  Parker,  egged  on  by  a  clergyman 
named  Crowder,  pressed  for  imprisonment,  and  accom- 
plished his  purpose  by  the  easy  injustice  of  tendering 
the  oaths  and  insisting  on  the  penalty  of  Praemunire. 
This  clergyman,  Dr.  Crowder,  furnished  an  amusing 
instance  of  the  proverbial  ill-fortune  of  listeners.  After 
one  of  Fox's  appearances  before  the  magistrates,  Lower 
remained  behind,  and  in  the  course  of  some  conversation 

1  From  the  Shackleton  MSS.  quoted  in  the  Fells  of  Svxvrthmoor 
Hall,  p.  287. 

II 


242 


GEORGE  FOX 


with  the  magistrates,  who  were  evidently  anxious  to 
avoid  taking  harsh  measures  with  the  brother  of  the 
King's  physician,  Justice  Parker  said  to  him,  "  Do  you 
think,  Mr.  Lower,  that  I  had  not  cause  to  send  your 
father  and  you  to  prison,  when  you  had  so  great  a 
meeting  that  the  parson  of  the  parish  complained  to 
me  that  he  has  lost  the  greatest  part  of  his  parishioners, 
so  that  when  he  comes  among  them  he  has  scarcely 
any  auditors  left?"  "I  have  heard,"  replied  Thomas 
Lower,  "  that  the  priest  of  that  parish  comes  so  seldom 
to  visit  his  flock  (but  once,  it  may  be,  or  twice  in  a 
year,  to  gather  up  his  tithes)  that  it  was  but  charity  in 
my  father  to  visit  so  forlorn  and  forsaken  a  flock  ;  and 
therefore  thou  hadst  no  cause  to  send  my  father  to 
prison  for  visiting  them  or  for  teaching,  instructing, 
and  directing  them  to  Christ,  their  true  teacher;  seeing 
they  had  so  little  comfort  or  benefit  from  their  pre- 
tended  pastor,  who  comes  among  them  only  to  seek  his 
gain  from  his  quarter."  "  Upon  this  the  Justices  fell 
a-laughing,  for  it  seems  Dr.  Crovvder  (who  was  the 
priest  they  spoke  of)  was  then  in  the  room,  sitting 
among  them,  though  Thomas  Lower  did  not  know 
him ;  and  he  had  the  wit  to  hold  his  tongue,  and  not 
undertake  to  vindicate  himself  in  a  matter  so  notoriously 
known  to  be  true." 

It  is  evident  that  Fox,  in  this  imprisonment,  was 
on  better  terms  with  his  keepers,  and  probably  better 
treated  by  them  than  either  at  Launceston  or  Lancaster. 
He  walked  to  and  fro  between  gaol  and  court-house 
unguarded,  or  nominally  guarded  by  a  little  boy  of 
eleven  years  old.  When  the  magistrates  resolved  to 
let  him  out  on  bail,  the  gaoler's  son  offered  to  be  bound 
for  him.    After  an  earnest  appeal  to  the  principles  of 


THE  LAST  IMPRISONMENT 


243 


Christianity  made  at  one  of  the  Quarter  Sessions,  "  the 
people  were  generally  tender,  as  if  they  had  been  in  a 
meeting."  Nevertheless  it  all  ended  in  the  infamous 
sentence  of  Praemunire,  for  refusal  of  the  oath  of 
allegiance,  though  Fox  tendered  in  lieu  of  the  oath  a 
paper  in  which  he  went  further  than  many  Conservative 
politicians  would  like  to  follow  him  to-day,  in  acknow- 
ledging the  Divinely  ordained  kingship  of  Charles  II.1 
The  Court,  as  we  have  seen,  was  favourably  disposed 
towards  Fox  at  this  time,  and  he  was  offered  his  release 
by  way  of  pardon  from  the  crown,  but  he  steadfastly 
refused  to  accept  any  such  way  of  escape,  looking  upon 
it  as  not  agreeable  to  the  innocency  of  his  cause.  The 
end  of  the  whole  matter  was  that  Fox  was  brought  up 
to  London  by  the  under-sheriff  on  February  8,  1675. 
His  case  came  on  before  Chief  Justice  Hale  and  three 
puisne  judges  at  the  King's  Bench.  The  errors  in  the 
indictment  (which  seem  to  have  been  many,  and  to 
show  that  a  bungler  had  been  at  work  here  as  well  as 
in  the  magistrates'  court  at  Lancaster)  were  pointed  out 
and  insisted  on  by  Mr.  Corbet,  George  Fox's  counsel, 
but  he  also  raised  the  important  objection,  "  that  they 
could  not  imprison  any  man  upon  a  Praemunire." 

1  This  paper,  which  any  reasonable  Christian  Government 
should  surely  have  gladly  accepted  as  an  equivalent  for  the  oath 
of  allegiance,  began  thus  : — 

"  This  I  do  in  the  truth  and  in  the  presence  of  God  declare, 
that  King  Charles  the  Second  is  lawful  King  of  this  realm  and 
all  other  his  dominions  ;  that  he  was  brought  in  and  set  up  King 
over  this  realm  by  the  power  of  God  ;  and  I  have  nothing  but 
goodwill  to  him  and  all  his  subjects,  and  desire  his  prosperity  and 
eternal  good."    The  last  sentence  is — 

"  I  dare  not  take  an  oath  because  it  is  forbidden  by  Christ  and 
the  apostle,  but  if  I  break  my  Yea  or  Nay,  let  me  suffer  the 
same  penalty  as  they  that  break  their  oaths. 

"  George  Fox.'' 


244 


GEORGE  FOX 


Some  of  Fox's  enemies  wanted  the  Chief  Justice  to 
put  the  oath  to  him  once  more,  urging  that  he  was  a 
dangerous  man  to  be  at  liberty,  but  that  noble  judge 
answered,  "  he  had  indeed  heard  some  such  reports, 
but  he  had  also  heard  many  more  good  reports  of  him ; " 
and  thus,  largely  no  doubt  through  Hale's  influence, 
Fox  regained  his  freedom,  as  he  triumphantly  says, 
"  without  receiving  any  pardon,  or  coming  under  any 
obligation  or  engagement  at  all."  "  Counsellor  Corbet, 
who  pleaded  for  me,  obtained  great  fame  by  it,  for 
many  of  the  lawyers  came  to  him  and  told  him  he  had 
brought  that  to  light  which  had  not  been  known  before, 
as  to  the  not  imprisoning  upon  a  Praemunire;  and 
after  the  trial  a  judge  said  to  him, 1  You  have  attained 
a  great  deal  of  honour  by  pleading  George  Fox's  cause 
so  in  court.' "  1 

1  My  friend  W.  C.  Braithwaite,  of  Lincoln's  Inn,  whom  I  have 
consulted  as  to  this  trial,  writes  to  ine — 

"  I  can  find  no  case  in  the  books  respecting  the  Praemunire  of 
George  Fox  in  1674.  On  looking  carefully  at  the  passage  in  the 
Journal,  it  is  evident  that  there  was  no  decision  on  the  point 
raised  by  Counsellor  Corbet.  He  raised  the  question  with 
sufficient  force  to  cause  the  judges  to  adjourn  the  case  for  further 
argument.  But '  the  next  day  they  chose  rather  to  let  this  plea 
fall,  and  begin  with  the  errors  of  the  indictment.'  It  was  on  these 
errors  that  the  indictment  was  quashed ;  and  it  is  to  be  noticed 
that  the  praise  given  to  Corbet  was  for  raising  the  question  so 
forcibly,  and  not  for  having  actually  obtained  a  decision  upon  it." 


CHAPTER  XVI 


CLOSING  YEARS 

The  fifteen  remaining  years  of  George  Fox's  life 
must  be  sketched  in  this,  as  in  all  his  other  biographies, 
much  more  briefly  than  those  which  have  preceded 
them.  From  this  point  onward  there  is  somewhat  of 
a  change  in  the  character  of  the  Journal,  which  be- 
comes much  more  of  a  mere  register  of  documents 
issued  by  Fox,  and  has  few  of  the  characteristic  and 
almost  humorous  touches  which  give  life  to  its  earlier 
pages.  Nor  are  indications  wanting  that  in  mind  as 
well  as  in  body  George  Fox  was  a  prematurely  aged 
man.  His  devotion  to  the  cause  of  spiritual  religion, 
which  he  believed  himself  called  to  promote,  is  as 
intense  as  ever,  his  zeal  in  its  service,  as  far  as  his 
bodily  infirmities  will  allow  him  to  display  it,  is  un- 
abated, but  there  is  not  so  much  freshness  of  idea  as 
aforetime,  and  there  are  several  instances  of  the  tend- 
ency of  old  age  to  re-issue  its  old  thought- currency. 

Yet  for  the  future  life  and  permanence  of  the  Society 
which  he  had  almost  unwittingly  founded,  these  years 
of  calm  reflective  old  age  were  probably  quite  as  impor- 
tant as  the  more  picturesque  and  adventurous  years  of 
his  early  apostolate.  For  questions  had  now  arisen  in 
that  Society,  similar  to  those  which  had  agitated  the 

245 


24G 


GEORGE  FOX 


wider  religous  world  of  the  English  nation,  and  on  the 
solution  of  these  questions  (ultimately  effected  by  the 
personal  authority  and  influence  of  George  Fox  him- 
self) the  very  existence  of  the  Society  probably  de- 
pended. 

Quakerism  had  been  at  the  outset  essentially  in- 
dividual in  its  character.  George  Fox's  own  individual 
musings  and  meditations  when  he  was  wandering  over 
the  fields  of  Leicestershire  had  given  the  impulse  to 
the  new  movement.  He  had  appealed  to  what  he 
called  the  Inward  Light,  or  the  voice  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  in  the  hearts  of  his  hearers,  and  on  those  facts 
of  their  own  individual  consciousness,  rather  than  on 
any  external  Church  authority,  he  had  based  his  re- 
ligious teaching.  For  some  years  the  "  Children  of 
Light,"  as  they  at  first  called  themselves,  had  existed 
and  had  multiplied,  possessing  none  but  the  very 
slightest  formal  bond  of  union,  or  system  of  Church 
government.  Then  the  disorders  which  had  arisen 
under  tbis  system  of  unchecked  Individualism  having 
convinced  Fox  of  the  necessity  of  a  change,  he  had, 
as  we  have  seen,  with  much  real  statesmanship,  as  well 
as  with  invincible  patience,  succeeded  in  establishing 
what  were  called  "  Meetings  for  discipline  "  ;  first  Yearly 
Meetings  (in  1658),  then  Quarterly  Meetings  (from 
1660  onwards),  and  lastly  Monthly  Meetings  (from 
1666  to  1669).  By  all  these  meetings  the  principle 
of  absolute  Individualism,  the  claim  of  each  member 
to  do  what  was  right  in  his  or  her  own  eyes,  was 
checked  and  bounded,  and  the  right  of  the  Church  to 
arrange  for  the  orderly  holding  of  meetings  for  worship, 
the  maintenance  of  the  poor,  the  decorous  celebration 
of  marriages,  the  registration  of  births  and  deaths,  even 


CLOSING  YEARS 


247 


to  some  extent  to  control  the  business  relations  of  the 
members  to  one  another,  was  recognized  and  enforced. 
It  seems  also  (though  this  is  a  point  which  has  been 
often  lost  sight  of)  that  some  pecuniary  provision  was 
made  by  the  new  Church  for  the  maintenance  of  those 
travelling  preachers  who  were  too  poor  to  support  them- 
selves.1 

Against  all  this  machinery  of  Church  government, 
and  to  a  certain  extent  against  the  authority  of  Fox 
himself,  as  chief  adviser  of  the  body  which  had  been 
called  into  existence  by  his  teaching,  there  was,  about 
1675,  a  formidable  movement  of  revolt.  It  was  not 
quite  the  first  time  that  a  discordant  note  had  been 
sounded  in  the  new  community.  There  had  been,  as 
we  have  seen  (about  1656),  a  tendency  to  set  up  the 
authority  of  the  strange  enthusiast  James  Naylor 
against  that  of  his  chief.  Then  (about  1661),  a  certain 
John  Perrot,  who  had  gone  to  Rome  to  convert  the 
Pope,  and  had  spent  some  time  in  the  prisons  of  the 
Inquisition,  started  on  his  return  a  crusade  against  the 
practice  of  uncovering  the  head  in  public  prayer,  thus 
caricaturing  Fox's  own  "  testimony  "  against  taking  off 
the  hat  to  his  fellow-men.2  But  this  schism  soon  died 
away.  Perrot  left  the  Society  of  Friends,  went  to 
America,  and  "  fell  into  manifest  sensualities  and  works 
of  the  flesh,  for  he  not  only  wore  gaudy  apparel,  but 
also  a  sword,  and  being  got  into  some  place  in  the 
Government,  he  became  a  severe  exacter  of  oaths, 

1  All  these  points  are  well  brought  out  in  Barclay's  Inner  Life 
of  Religious  Societies  of  the  Commonwealth,  chapters  xviii.  and  xix. 

3  Sewel,  the  Quaker  historian,  says  of  Perrot,  "as  one  error 
proceeds  from  another,  so  he  made  another  extravagant  step,  and 
let  his  beard  grow  ;  in  which  he  was  followed  by  some."  (Hid. 
of  Society  of  iViendu,  ii.  315.    Ed.  1833.) 


248 


GEORGE  FOX 


whereas  before  he  had  professed  that  for  conscience' 
sake  he  could  not  swear." 1 

The  schism,  however,  which  now  (about  the  year 
1675)  threatened  the  disruption  of  the  Society,  and 
which  is  known  by  the  name  of  Wilkinson  and  Story's 
Separation,  was  a  much  less  fantastic,  and  therefore 
much  more  formidable  affair  than  Perrot's  hat  and 
beard  vagaries.  The  two  men  who  headed  it,  John 
Wilkinson  and  John  Story,  were  eminent  preachers 
among  the  Friends,  and  had  probably  often  worked 
side  by  side  with  Fox  himself.2  But  they  insisted, 
like  the  Independents,  on  the  right  of  each  congrega- 
tion to  transact  its  own  affairs  uncontrolled  by  any 
central  body.  "  They  regarded  with  great  jealousy 
the  Central  Yearly  Meeting  of  London,  which  they 
compared  to  a  High  Court  of  Judicature,  and  declared 
it  would  become  a  New  Rome  in  time.  They  made 
use  of  the  principle  which  Perrot  had  enunciated, 
'  that  the  fellowship  of  the  Spirit  did  not  stand  in 
outward  forms,'  against  the  form  of  Church  govern- 
ment established  by  Fox.  When  asked,  '  Ought  not 
Christian  Churches  to  deny '  (or  excommunicate)  '  for 
breach  of  fundamental  articles  ? '  they  answered,  that 
if  such  articles  were  against  the  Light  of  Christ  in 
individual  consciences,  was  not  the  requiring  of  sub- 
mission an  infringement  of  Christian  liberty  ?  If 
these  outward  forms  were  to  be  obeyed  at  a  moment 
when  the  Spirit  of  God  did  not  move  an  individual 

1  Sewel,  Hist,  of  Society  of  Friends,  ii.  315. 

2  John  Wilkinson  is  erroneously  identified  by  Barclay  (Religious 
Societies  of  the  Commonwealth,  p.  441)  with  the  clergyman  of 
Broughton  who  turned  Quaker  (Fox's  Journal,  I.  393),  and  who, 
as  is  there  mentioned,  died  in  1675. 


CLOSING  YEARS 


249 


to  obey,  how  was  '  New  Light '  again  to  break  forth 
to  God's  glory  ? "  1 

Moreover,  the  Separatists  objected  to  that  law  of 
the  Society  by  which  all  its  members  were  required 
to  abstain  from  payment  of  tithes  on  pain  of  disown- 
ment,  saying  that  each  individual  should  be  left  to 
act  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience. 
Herein  they  seem  to  have  borne  a  useful  testimony 
against  what  has  always  been  the  besetting  sin  of 
Quakerism,  a  disposition  to  insist  that  if  nine  members 
feel  a  conscientious  scruple  against  doing  a  certain 
thing,  the  tenth  member  shall  feel  it  likewise. 

But  when  it  came  to  defending  the  practice  of 
fleeing  in  time  of  persecution,  and  discontinuing  the 
usual  meetings  of  Friends  in  order  to  escape  the  cruel 
provisions  of  the  Conventicle  Act,  one  can  see  that  the 
very  existence  of  the  new  Society,  and  it  might  almost 
be  said  the  cause  of  religious  freedom  in  England,  were 
at  stake,  and  that  with  all  their  bold  words  on  behalf 
of  Individualism,  these  opposers  of  all  Church  authority 
in  the  new  community  would,  if  victorious,  soon  have 
had  neither  community  nor  individuals  left.  In  fact, 
Wilkinson  and  Story,  though  there  are  some  things 
in  their  teaching  which  look  like  the  legitimate  out- 
come of  Quaker  doctrines,  were  at  heart  more  nearly 
akin  to  the  "  Seekers  "  or  the  "  Ranters "  than  to  the 
Friends,  and  probably  had  their  cause  triumphed  over 
the  steady  opposition  of  Fox  and  his  chief  supporters, 
the  Quakers  would  have  faded  away  into  the  same 
limbo  of  forgotten  religions  in  which  both  "  Seekers " 
and  "Ranters"  now  lie  entombed. 

1  I  have  borrowed  some  sentences  here  from  Barclay's  Inner 
Life,  etc.,  p.  465. 


250 


GEORGE  FOX 


The  literary  part  of  the  controversy  against  the  new 
schismatics  was  left  chiefly  to  Robert  Barclay  and 
Thomas  Ellwood,  the  friend  of  Milton.  The  former 
wrote  a  short  treatise  on  The  Anarchy  of  the  Banters; 
and  the  latter,  in  a  work  which  he  believed  to  be  a 
poem,  and  which  he  entitled  Rogcro  Mastix,  chastised 
the  yet  more  prosaic  verses  in  which  a  certain  William 
Rogers  of  Bristol  had  championed  the  cause  of  Wilkinson 
and  Story. 

Eventually  the  schism  was  ended  by  the  apparent 
victory  of  the  party  in  favour  of  Fox's  Church  organiz- 
ation, but  it  is  the  opinion  of  a  careful  inquirer1  that 
the  views  of  the  defeated  party  were  in  some  measure 
adopted  by  the  Society  at  large,  and  that  the  Quietism 
which  prevailed  among  Friends  th  roughou  t  the  eighteenth 
century,  was  in  a  certain  sense  the  result  of  the  Separatist 
movement  of  1G75. 

It  is  the  life  of  Fox,  not  the  history  of  Quakerism, 
with  which  we  are  here  concerned,  but  so  much  as  this 
it  seemed  necessary  to  say,  in  order  to  explain  many 
pages  of  his  Journal,  and  the  chief  occupation  of  his 
closing  years.  Such  passages  as  this  are  of  frequent 
occurence — 

"  I  wrote  answers  to  divers  papers  concerning  the 
running  out  of  some  who  had  opposed  the  order  of 
the  gospel,  and  had  stirred  up  much  strife  and  contention 
in  Westmoreland." 

"  Some  that  professed  truth,  and  had  made  a  great 
show  therein,  being  gone  from  the  simplicity  of  the 
gospel  into  jangling,  division,  and  a  spirit  of  separation, 
endeavoured  to  discourage  Friends,  especially  the  women,2 

1  Barclay,  Inner  Life,  p.  472. 

?  For  some  reason,  which  is  not  very  clear,  the  women's  meetings 


CLOSING  YEARS 


251 


from  their  godly  care  and  watchfulness  in  the  church 
over  one  another  in  the  truth  ;  opposing  their  meetings, 
which  in  the  power  of  the  Lord  were  set  up  for  that 
end  and  service." 

At  Bristol  (1677),  "  Many  sweet  and  precious  meetings 
we  had ;  many  Friends  being  there  from  several  parts 
of  the  nation,  some  on  account  of  trade,  and  some  in 
the  service  of  truth.  Great  was  the  love  and  unity 
of  Friends  that  abode  faithful  in  the  truth,  though 
some  who  were  gone  out  of  the  holy  unity  and  were 
run  into  strife,  division,  and  enmity,  were  rude  and 
abusive,  and  behaved  themselves  in  a  very  unchristian 
manner  towards  me.  But  the  Lord's  power  was  over 
all ;  by  which  being  preserved  in  heavenly  patience 
which  can  bear  injuries  for  His  Name's  sake,  I  felt 
dominion  therein  over  the  rough,  rude,  and  unruly 
spirits,  and  left  them  to  the  Lord,  who  knew  my 
iunocency,  and  would  plead  my  cause.  The  more 
these  laboured  to  reproach  and  vilify  me,  the  more  did 
the  love  of  Friends  that  were  sensible  and  upright- 
hearted  abound  towards  me,  and  some  that  had  been 
betrayed  by  the  adversaries,  seeing  their  envy  and  rude 
behaviour,  broke  off  from  them,  who  have  cause  to  bless 
the  Lord  for  their  deliverance." 

Owing  to  Fox's  broken  health,  there  were  sometimes 
now  considerable  pauses  in  his  hitherto  incessant 
journeyings.  At  two  separate  intervals  he  spent  about 
four  years  restfully  at  Swarthmoor,1  perhaps  the  happiest 

for  business  were  the  subject  of  especial  opposition  from  the 
Separatists. 

1  The  first  time,  1675  6,  of  which  Margaret  Fox  says,  "This 
was  the  first  time  that  he  came  to  Swarthmoor  after  we  were 
married,  and  lie  stayed  there  much  of  two  years."  The  second 
time,  1679-80,  of  which  she  says,  "  He  came  into  the  North  to 


252 


GEORGE  FOX 


part  of  his  life,  though  hurried  over  in  the  Journal 
almost  as  though  he  were  ashamed  of  having  allowed 
himself  so  long  a  rest  by  the  wayside. 

When  Fox  first  appeared  in  the  old  Lancashire 
manor-house  after  his  liberation  from  Worcester,  he  re- 
ceived a  visit  from  his  former  oppressor,  Colonel  Kirkby, 
who  came  to  bid  him  welcome  into  the  country,  and 
"  carried  himself  to  all  appearance  very  lovingly."  True, 
he  afterwards  sent  a  message  by  the  Ulverston  con- 
stables that  there  must  be  no  more  meetings  at  Swarth- 
moor,  and  if  there  were  such  they  had  orders  to  break 
them  up.  But  on  the  very  next  Sunday  the  Friends 
had  "a  very  precious  meeting,"  quite  undisturbed  by 
the  constables,  and  so  they  continued  ever  after.  In 
fact,  as  far  as  can  be  discerned  from  Fox's  Journal, 
the  Conventicle  Act,  though  still  enforced  spasmodically 
in  London,  had  become  little  more  than  a  dead  letter 
in  the  north  of  England,  the  persecution  of  Friends, 
which  was  still  bitter,  being  generally  for  non-payment 
of  tithes,  or  on  the  easy  ground  of  their  refusal  to  take 
an  oath,  which  enabled  the  magistrates  to  proceed 
against  them  as  "  Papist  recusants." 

Another  of  Fox's  old  antagonists  was  the  Rev. 
William  Lampitt,  formerly  the  "Established"  minister 
of  Ulverston,  but  since  St.  Bartholomew's  Day  an 
ejected  minister.  A  good  man,  we  may  surely  believe, 
perhaps  correctly  described  by  Calamy  as  "  a  warm  and 
lively  preacher " ;  certainly  one  whose  sacrifices  for 
conscience'  sake  entitled  him  to  more  respectful  notice 
than  is  contained  in  the  following  sentences  from  Fox's 

Swarthmoor  again,  and  stayed  this  time  near  two  years  ;  and  then 
he  grew  weakly,  being  troubled  with  pains  and  aches,  having  had 
many  sore  and  long  travels,  beatings,  and  hard  imprisonments," 


CLOSING  YEARS 


253 


Journal — "In  1676,1  while  I  was  at  Swarthmoor,  died 
William  Lampitt,  the  old  priest  of  Ulverston,  which 
parish  Swarthmoor  is  in.  He  was  an  old  deceiver,  a 
perverter  of  the  right  way  of  the  Lord,  and  a  persecutor 
of  the  people  of  God.  Much  contest  I  had  with  him 
when  I  first  came  into  those  parts.  He  had  been  an 
old  false  prophet;  for  in  1652  he  prophesied  (and  said 
he  would  wage  his  life  upon  it)  that  the  Quakers  would 
all  vanish  and  come  to  nought  within  half  a  year,  but 
he  came  to  nought  himself.  For  he  continued  in  this 
lying  and  false  accusing  of  God's  people  till  a  little 
before  he  died,  and  then  he  cried  for  a  little  rest.  To 
one  of  his  hearers  that  came  to  visit  him  before  he 
died,  he  said,  '  I  have  been  a  preacher  a  long  time,  and 
thought  I  had  lived  well ;  but  I  did  not  think  it  had 
been  so  hard  a  thing  to  die.' " 

During  these  long  periods  of  quiescence  at  Swarth- 
moor, Fox  was  busy  with  his  pen,  writing  epistles  to  the 
Yearly  Meeting,  and  "a  book  of  the  types  and  figures 
of  Christ  with  their  significations,"  collecting  the  papers 
which  he  had  addressed  to  Oliver  and  Richard  Crom- 
well, and  to  Charles  II.,  providing  materials  for  a  future 
history  of  Quakerism,  and  so  on.  In  company  with 
his  friend  and  fellow-traveller  in  America,  John  Burn- 
yeat,  he  answered  what  he  calls  "  a  very  envious  and 
wicked  book  which  Roger  Williams,  a  priest  of  New 
England  (or  some  colony  thereabout),  had  written  against 
truth  and  Friends."  The  envious  and  wicked  book 
was  no  doubt  Williams's  George  Fox  digged  out  of  his 
Burrowes,  published  at  Boston  in  1676.  This  probably 
seemed  to  Fox  a  very  unscrupulous  attack,  and  one 

1  Calainy  says,  "he  lived  obscurely  [after  his  ejection]  and 
dy'd  Anno  1677." 


254 


GEORGE  FOX 


that  absolutely  required  a  reply;  but  lie  can  hardly 
have  been  aware  how  much  the  cause  of  religious 
freedom  owed  to  Roger  Williams  and  his  colony  of 
Rhode  Island ;  otherwise  he  would  have  spoken  more 
respectfully  of  his  antagonist. 

In  1677,  Fox  paid  a  short  visit1  to  the  Continent, 
in  company  with  William  Penn,  Robert  Barclay,  George 
Keith,2  and  some  others.  His  wife  was  not  of  the 
party,  but  was  represented  by  her  third  daughter  Isa- 
bel. The  chief  object  of  the  travellers  seems  to  have 
been  to  visit  the  Friends  in  Holland,  where  there  were 
by  this  time  a  pretty  large  number  of  adherents  to  the 
new  Society.  Holland  must  have  been  now  only  just 
beginning  to  recover  from  the  terrible  strain  of  that 
great  five  years'  war  with  Louis  XIV.,  in  which  she  had 
been  brought  to  the  brink  of  ruin,  and  had  been  only 
saved  by  the  valour  of  young  William  of  Orange,  and 
by  the  desperate  expedient  of  opening  the  dykes,  and 
laying  the  country  under  water.  We  have,  however, 
no  allusion  in  the  Journal  to  these  exciting  events, 
except  that  when  the  travellers  drew  near  the  frontier 
of  East  Friesland,  "  there  came  many  officers  rushing 
into  the  boat,  and  being  somewhat  in  drink  they  were 
very  rude.  I  spoke  to  them  "  (says  Fox),  "  exhorting 
them  to  fear  the  Lord  and  beware  of  Solomon's  vanities. 
They  were  boisterous  fellows,  yet  somewhat  more  civil 
afterwards."  We  have  also  an  address  from  Fox's  pen 
"  to  the  ambassadors  who  were  met  to  treat  for  Peace 
at  the  city  of  Nimeguen  in  the  States  dominions."  The 
address  is  chiefly  about  the  wickedness  of  war,  and  its 
inconsistency  with  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel.    "  Is  it  not 

1  July  25  to  October  23. 

2  In  later  life  a  great  opponent  of  Quakerism. 


CLOSING  YEARS 


255 


a  sad  thing,"  he  says,  "for  Christians  to  be  biting  and 
consuming  one  another  in  the  sight  of  the  Turks, 
Tartars,  Jews,  and  Heathens,  when  they  should  love 
one  another  and  do  unto  all  men  as  they  would  have 
them  do  unto  them  ?  Such  devouring  work  as  this 
will  open  the  mouth  of  Jews  and  Turks,  Tartars  and 
Heathens,  to  blaspheme  the  name  of  Christ,  and  cause 
them  to  speak  evil  of  Christianity,  for  them  to  see  how 
the  unity  of  the  Spirit  is  broken  among  such  as  profess 
Christ  and  Christ's  peace."  Certainly  the  diplomacy 
of  Cliris-tian  Europe  did  not  shine  in  the  negotiations 
of  Nimeguen.  The  great  personages  charged  with  the 
conclusion  of  the  treaty  entered  that  town  in  February 
1676  (more  than  a  year  before  Fox's  visit  to  Holland), 
and  it  was  not  till  August  1678  that  they  concluded 
what  Macaulay  has  well  styled  "the  hollow  and  un- 
satisfactory treaty  by  which  the  distractions  of  Europe 
were  for  a  time  suspended." 

An  interesting  event  in  Fox's  journey  to  Holland 
was  the  visit  paid  by  George  Keith's  wife  and  Fox's 
step-daughter  Isabel  Yeamans  to  the  Princess  Elizabeth. 
This  lady  was  a  daughter  of  Frederick,  Elector  Palatine 
(the  "  Winter  King "  of  Bohemia),  and  our  Princess 
Elizabeth.  Like  her  brothers  and  sisters,  she  had 
experienced  strange  reverses  of  fortune,  and  she  showed 
much  of  that  originality  of  character  which — perhaps 
on  account  of  those  very  reverses — the  members  of  this 
family  generally  displayed. 

There  was  Charles  Louis,  the  eldest  son,  who  well- 
nigh  broke  his  mother's  heart  by  his  selfishness  and 
ingratitude ;  there  were  Rupert  and  Maurice,  those 
Paladins  of  the  Civil  War,  whose  lives  had  such 
different  endings,  Rupert  the  chemist  and  the  inventor 


25G 


GEORGE  FOX 


spending  his  old  age  at  the  Court  of  Charles  II.,  while 
Maurice,  still  young,  and  flying  westwards  before  the 
victorious  Blake,  sank  out  of  sight  in  the  waters  of  the 
Antilles.  Youngest  of  the  band  was  the  handsome 
and  sprightly  Sophia,  who  had  now  been  for  some 
twenty  years  married  to  Ernest  Augustus,  Elector  of 
Hanover;  who,  dying  at  eighty-four,  only  missed  by 
two  months  being  proclaimed  Queen  of  England,  and 
who  was  in  fact  the  ancestress  of  all  our  royal  Georges, 
and  of  our  present  Queen  Victoria.  Twelve  years 
older  than  the  Electress  Sophia,  and  utterly  unlike  her 
in  disposition,  was  the  calm  and  unworldly  Elizabeth, 
who,  after  refusing  some  brilliant  offers  of  marriage, 
spent  her  middle  or  later  life  as  Protestant  Abbess  of 
Herford,  a  position  which,  as  the  convent  had  been 
long  ago  sequestered,  brought  with  it  no  religious 
obligations,  but  gave  the  holder  an  income  and  some 
little  territorial  jurisdiction.  She  had  come  before 
this  time  under  the  influence  of  that  interesting,  but 
not  altogether  satisfactory  enthusiast,  Jean  Labadie — 
a  Jesuit  who  turned  Protestant  and  something  more — 
and  his  teaching,  which  has  been  described  as  "  something 
like  a  French  Quakerism,  but  with  ingredients  from 
older  Anabaptism," 1  had  prepared  her  to  listen  with 
favour  to  the  words  of  Fox  and  his  disciples.  She  had 
been  already  visited  by  Penn  and  Barclay,  and  had 
addressed  to  the  latter  an  epistle  from  which  the 
following  is  an  extract. 

"Your  memory  is  dear  to  me,  so  are  your  lives,  and 
yoxxr  exhortations  very  necessary.  I  confess  myself 
still  spiritually  very  poor  and  naked ;  all  my  happiness 
is  that  I  do  know  I  am  so,  and  whatsoever  I  have 

1  Masson,  Life  of  Milton,  v.  595. 


CLOSING  YEARS 


257 


seemed  or  studied  heretofore  is  but  as  dust  in  com- 
parison to  the  true  knowledge  of  Christ.  I  confess 
also  my  infidelity  to  this  light,  by  suffering  myself 
to  be  conducted  by  a  false  politique  light ;  now  that 
I  have  sometimes  a  small  glimpse  of  the  True  Light 
I  do  not  attend  to  it  as  I  should,  being  drawn  away 
by  the  works  of  my  calling,  which  must  be  done. 
Like  your  swift  English  hounds,  I  often  overrun  my 
scent,  being  called  back  when  it  is  too  late.  Let  not 
this  make  you  less  earnest  in  your  prayers  for  me ; 
you  see  I  need  them.  Your  letters  will  be  always 
welcome  to  me,  so  shall  your  friends  if  any  please  to 
visit  me. 

"  I  should  admire  God's  providence  if  my  brother 
[Prince  Rupert]  could  be  a  means  of  releasing  your 
father,1  and  the  forty  more  prisoners  in  Scotland.  Having 
promised  to  do  his  best,  I  know  he  will  perform  it ;  he 
has  always  been  true  to  his  word ;  and  you  shall  find 
me  by  the  grace  of  God  a  true  friend. 

"  Elizabeth."  2 

Following  up  the  invitation  contained  in  this  letter, 
the  two  Quaker  ladies,  Mrs.  Yeamans  and  Mrs.  Keith, 
with  a  Dutch  woman-Friend  to  act  as  interpreter, 
went  to  visit  the  Princess  in  her  home  at  Herford  in 
Westphalia,  taking  with  them  a  long  letter  from  George 
Fox,  which  began  as  follows — 

"  Princess  Elizabeth, 

"  I  have  heard  of  thy  tenderness  towards  the 
Lord  and  His  holy  truth,  by  some  Friends  that  have 

1  Colonel  David  Barclay,  once  an  officer  in  the  army  of 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  at  this  time  a  Quaker,  and  imprisoned  in 
the  Tolbooth  of  Aberdeen. 

2  Quoted  in  the  Fells  of  tihvarthmoor  Hall,  pp.  302-3. 

S 


258 


GEORGE  FOX 


visited  thee,  and  also  by  some  of  thy  letters  which  I 
have  seen.  It  is  indeed  a  great  thing  for  a  person 
of  thy  quality  to  have  such  a  tender  mind  after  the 
Lord  and  His  precious  truth,  seeing  so  many  are 
swallowed  up  with  voluptuousness  and  the  pleasures  of 
this  world ;  yet  all  make  an  outward  profession  of  God 
and  Christ  one  way  or  other,  but  without  any  deep 
inward  sense  and  feeling  of  Him."  When  we  remember 
that  the  Princess  was  first  cousin  to  Charles  II.,  and 
that  most  of  her  kindred  were  more  or  less  hangers- 
on  to  the  pleasure-loving  Court  at  Whitehall,  the  hint 
about  "  voluptuousness "  is  seen  to  be  singularly 
appropriate,  and  in  truth,  the  contrast  between  that 
Court  and  the  old  Abbey  of  Herford  must  have  been 
about  as  striking  as  any  that  Europe  could  exhibit. 

The  Princess  sent  the  following  reply  to  Fox's  letter — 

"Dear  Friend, 

"  I  cannot  but  have  a  tender  love  to  those 
that  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  whom  it  is 
given,  not  only  to  believe  in  Him,  but  also  to  suffer 
for  Him ;  therefore  your  letter  and  your  friends'  visit 
have  been  both  very  welcome  to  me.  I  shall  follow 
their  and  your  counsel  as  far  as  God  will  afford  me 
light  and  unction,  remaining  still  your  loving  friend, 

"Elizabeth. 

"  Herford,  the  30th  of  August,  1677." 

Soon  afterwards  Penn  and  Barclay  paid  their  second 
visit  to  Herford,  and  were  received  with  even  more 
cordiality  than  on  their  first.  The  royal  Abbess  of 
Herford  seems  indeed  to  have   become  virtually  a 


CLOSING  YEARS 


259 


Friend,  and  during  the  few  remaining  years  of  her 
life  (she  died  in  1680)  she  kept  up  a  pretty  fre- 
quent correspondence  with  the  leading  members  of 
the  Society,  exerting  what  influence  she  could  with 
her  relatives  at  Whitehall  on  behalf  especially  of 
the  Scottish  Friends  who  were  suffering  imprison- 
ment. 

Fox's  Continental  journey  extended  to  North  Germany 
as  well  as  Holland.  He  visited  Etnden,  Oldenburg 
("lately  a  great  and  famous  place, but  then  burnt  down, 
and  but  few  houses  left  standing  in  it"),  Bremen, 
Hamburg,  and  penetrated  some  way  into  "  the  Duke 
of  Holstein's  country."  The  whole  visit  occupied 
him  three  months  (July  25  to  October  23,  1677), 
and  it  was  repeated  on  a  smaller  scale  seven  years 
afterwards  (June  4  to  July  17,  1684).  He  occasion- 
ally had  an  argument  with  a  Calvinist  divine,  or  a 
Baptist  teacher,  but  his  visit  was  chiefly  directed 
to  those  who  were  already  Friends,  and  it  may  be 
suggested  that  the  necessity  of  speaking  through  an 
interpreter,  and  the  impossibility  of  exchanging  quick 
theological  repartee  with  the  travellers  by  the  wayside, 
somewhat  cramped  his  energies,  and  prevented  him 
from  undertaking  a  wider  and  longer  campaign. 

At  this  time  there  was  a  considerable  number  of 
adherents  to  the  new  Society  in  many  parts  of  Central 
Europe.  There  was  also  a  tolerably  large  congregation 
of  Friends  at  Dantzic,  who  were  cruelly  oppressed  by 
the  Lutheran  magistrates  of  that  city.  Their  sufferings 
lay  very  heavy  on  Fox's  heart,  and  he  several  times 
addressed  long  letters,  both  to  their  nominal  sovereign, 
John  III.,  King  of  Poland,  and  to  the  city  magistrates, 
pleading  for  some  respite  to  the  persecuted  and  im- 


260 


GEORGE  FOX 


prisoned  Quakers.    The  Quakers  in  Holland  seem  to 

have  been  largely  drawn  from  the  very  similar  body  of 
the  Mennonites,  and  this  chiefly  under  the  preaching 
of  William  Caton,  that  young  Swarthmoor  convert  of 
George  Fox's,  of  whom  some  description  has  been  given 
in  an  earlier  chapter.1 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  the  interval  between 
Fox's  two  visits  to  the  Continent,  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  Mennonite  teachers  entirely  changed  his 
attitude  towards  Quakerism,  and  from  an  opponent 
became  a  supporter  of  the  new  teaching.  This  was 
Dr.  Galenus  Abrahams,  a  Mennonite  with  some 
tendency  towards  Socinianism.  At  Fox's  first  visit 
there  was  a  five  hours'  discussion  between  this  man 
and  Fox,  assisted  by  Penn.  Abrahams  maintained  a 
favourite  thesis  of  the  English  "  Seekers,"  "  that 
there  was  no  Christian  Church  ministry  or  commission 
Apostolical  now  in  the  world."  One  might  have 
thought  that  this  was  an  argument  to  be  held  rather 
against  a  stout  champion  of  Apostolical  Succession  than 
against  a  theological  free-lance  such  as  Fox ;  but  he 
also  contended — and  here  we  see  how  his  doctrine 
would  cut  at  the  root  of  Fox's  ministry — "  that  nobody 
now-a-days  could  be  accepted  as  a  messenger  of  God, 
unless  he  confirmed  the  same  by  miracles."  The 
discussion  was  not  a  very  satisfactory  one,  having  all 
to  be  conducted  through  an  interpreter,  but  it  seems 
to  have  been  generally  considered  that  the  Quakers 
had  the  best  of  it.  The  greatest  share  of  the  argument 
on  their  side  was  taken  by  William  Penn.  George  Fox, 
as  we  are  told  by  the  Quaker  historian  Sewel  (himself 
a  friend  and  former  disciple  of  Abrahams),  "  spake  also 
1  See  p.  73. 


CLOSING  YEARS 


261 


something  to  the  matter,  but  he,  being  somewhat  short- 
breathed,  went  several  times  away,  which  some  were 
ready  to  impute  to  a  passionate  temper;  but  I  well 
know  that  herein  they  wronged  him."  But  evidently 
Abrahams  thought  that  his  opponent  was  too  fierce, 
and  shrank,  as  others  had  done  before  him,  from  the 
still  undimmed  lustre  of  those  flashing  eyes.  "  He  was 
then,"  says  Fox,  speaking  of  the  earlier  visit  and  the 
disputation  which  was  held  between  them — "he  was 
then  very  high  and  shy,  so  that  he  would  not  let  me 
touch  him  nor  look  upon  him  by  his  good-will,  but  bid 
me  '  keep  my  eyes  off  him,  for/  he  said,  '  they  pierced 
him.'  But  now  he  was  very  loving  and  tender,  and 
confessed  in  some  measure  to  Truth.  His  wife  also 
and  daughters  were  tender  and  kind,  and  we  parted 
from  them  very  lovingly." 1 

After  Fox's  return  from  his  first  Continental  journey 
(1677),  with  the  exception  of  one  year  (1679),  spent  in 
retirement  at  Swarthmoor,  he  passed  most  of  his  time 
in  London  and  its  suburbs,  sometimes  making  short 
excursions  into  the  home  counties.  It  is  not  very 
clear  where  he  abode  when  actually  in  London,  but  the 
hospitable  shelter  of  Kingston-on-Thames,  where  dwelt 
his  son-in-law,  the  West  Indian  merchant,  John  Rous, 
with  his  wife  Margaret  (daughter  of  Margaret  Fox), 
was  ever  ready  to  receive  him  when  pining  for  the 
fresh  air  of  the  country.  His  relation  to  this  worthy 
couple,  as  to  all  his  wife's  daughters  and  their  hus- 
bands, seems  to  have  been  most  friendly  and  cordial, 
nor  is  there  ever  a  sign  of  a  welcome  out-stayed  at 

1  For  some  account  of  Galenus  Abrahams,  consult,  besides 
G.  F.'s  Journal,  Sewel's  History  of  Friend*,  iv.  25 ;  and  Barclay's 
Religious  Societies  of  the  (knnmonwealth,  pp.  174,  251. 


262  GEORGE  FOX 

their  hospitable  houses.  In  1683,  he  records  a 
special  visit  of  a  week  paid  to  Kingston,  the  occasion 
being  that  "  my  son  Rous's  daughter  Margaret  lay- 
very  sick  and  had  a  desire  to  see  me."  The  young 
grand-daughter,  like  her  ancestress,  felt  the  power  of 
goodness  in  the  preacher  of  the  Inward  Light,  and 
longed  to  clasp  his  hand  if  she  was  about  to  fare  forth 
into  the  Unknown.1 

One  reason  why  these  latter  years  of  Fox's  life  were 
for  the  most  part  spent  in  London  and  its  neighbour- 
hood was  that  his  presence  there  was  still  needed,  in 
order  to  counteract  the  efforts  of  the  Separatists  Wilk- 
inson and  Story,  allusions  to  whom  are  frequent  in  this 
part  of  the  Journal.  Another  was,  that  from  the  year 
1681  onwards,  after  the  defeat  of  the  Exclusion  Bill  and 
the  dissolution  of  the  Oxford  Parliament,  there  was  a 
spasm  of  fresh  and  fierce  persecution  against  Friends 
under  the  Conventicle  Act,  which  had  been  perhaps 
growing  somewhat  rusty  under  the  Whiggish 
Parliaments  of  1679  and  1681.  The  pages  of  the 
Journal  give  us  a  vivid  picture  of  the  scenes  enacted 
under  this  monstrous  statute. 

"  One  First-day  it  was  upon  me  to  go  to  Devonshire 
House  meeting  in  the  afternoon,  and  because  I  had 
heard  Friends  were  kept  out  there  that  morning  I  went 
sooner,  and  got  into  the  yard  before  the  soldiers  came 
to  guard  the  passages;  but  the  constables  were  there 

1  The  young  Margaret  did  not  die  at  this  time.  Perhaps  it 
would  have  been  better  for  her  if  she  had,  for  there  were  storms 
of  some  kind  or  other  in  her  after-life.  In  her  father's  will,  dated 
October  20, 1692,  there  is  a  bequest  of  ten  pounds  only  "unto  my 
daughter  Margaret,  who  hath  several  ways  disobliged  me,"  with 
power  to  her  mother  to  appoint  her  a  further  sum  of  ,£500  "  if 
after  my  decease  she  shall  by  her  obedient  and  dutiful  carriage 
oblige ;'  her  said  mother.    Fells  of  Swarthmoor  Hall,  p.  390. 


CLOSING  YEARS 


263 


before  me  and  stood  in  the  doorway  with  their  staves. 
I  asked  them  to  let  me  go  in ;  they  said,  they  could  not 
nor  durst  not,  for  they  were  commanded  the  contrary, 
and  were  sorry  for  it.  I  told  them  I  would  not  press 
upon  them.  So  I  stood  by,  and  they  were  very  civil.  I 
stood  till  I  was  weary,  and  then  one  gave  me  a  stool  to 
sit  down  on,  and  after  a  while  the  power  of  the  Lord 
began  to  spring  up  among  Friends,  and  one  began  to 
speak.  The  constables  soon  forbade  him,  and  said  he 
should  not  speak,  and  he  not  stopping,  they  began  to  be 
wroth.  But  I  gently  laid  my  hand  upon  one  of  the 
constables,  and  wished  him  to  let  him  alone.  The 
constable  did  so,  and  was  quiet,  and  the  man  did  not 
speak  long." 

Fox  himself  then  rose  and  spoke,  telling  the  intruders 
that  they  need  not  come  with  swords  and  staves  against 
them,  for  they  were  a  peaceable  people,  not  met  to  plot 
against  the  Government,  but  to  worship  God  under  the 
spiritual  presidency  of  Christ.  His  short  sermon  ended, 
he  knelt  down  to  pray.  "The  power  of  the  Lord," 
continues  Fox,  "  was  over  all.  The  people,  the  con- 
stables, and  the  soldiers  all  put  off  their  hats.  When 
the  meeting  was  ended  and  the  Friends  began  to  pass 
away,  the  chief  constable  put  off  his  hat,  and  desired 
the  Lord  to  bless  us :  for  the  power  of  the  Lord  was 
over  him  and  the  people  and  kept  them  under." 

Another  Sunday,  Fox  goes  to  the  meeting  at  Grace- 
church  Street,  and  finds  three  constables  there  keeping 
the  Friends  out,  and  accordingly  they  meet  in  the  court- 
yard. After  some  time  of  silence,  Fox  stands  up  to 
preach.  After  he  has  spoken  some  time,  one  of  the 
constables  comes  and  takes  him  by  the  hand,  telling  him 
he  must  come  down.    "  Be  patient,"  says  Fox,  and  con- 


264 


GEORGE  FOX 


tinues  his  sermon ;  but  after  a  little  while  the  constable 
pulls  him  down,  and  marches  him  off  into  the  meeting- 
house. "  Are  you  not  weary  of  this  work  ?  "  asks  Fox  ; 
and  one  of  them  answers,  "  Indeed  we  are." 

If  space  allowed,  several  other  passages  of  this  kind 
could  be  quoted,  most  of  which  show  both  magistrates 
and  police  heartily  ashamed  of  the  foolish  and  tyrannical 
acts  which  the  wisdom  of  Parliament  had  ordered  them 
to  perform.  In  reading  page  after  page  of  this  legalized 
lawlessness,  one  feels  it  to  be  a  marvel  that  the  English 
people  should  now  possess  that  character  which  is  in 
truth  theirs,  of  a  law-abiding  people. 

When  the  sky  is  a  little  lightened  it  is  from  an 
unexpected  quarter.  These  last  two  years  of  the  reign 
of  James  II.,  which  the  constitutional  historian  sees 
to  have  been  full  of  peril  to  the  civil,  and  eventually  to 
the  religious  liberties  of  England,  were  nevertheless  to 
the  cruelly  harried  Nonconformists  years  of  surcease  of 
pain  and  recovery  of  freedom.  The  King's  Declaration 
of  Indulgence,  publised  on  April  4,  1697,  expressed 
sentiments  which,  had  there  been  no  sinister  design 
lurking  behind  them,  would  have  done  honour  to  Milton 
or  Locke.  "  It  is,  and  hath  been  of  long  time,  our 
constant  sense  and  opinion  that  conscience  ought  not 
to  be  constrained,  nor  people  forced  in  matters  of 
religion.  It  has  ever  been  directly  contrary  to  our 
inclination,  as  we  think  it  is  to  the  interest  of  Govern- 
ment, which  it  destroys  by  spoiling  trades,  depopulating 
countries,  and  discouraging  strangers ;  and  finally,  it  has 
never  obtained  the  end  for  which  it  was  employed. 
And  in  this  we  are  the  more  confirmed  by  the  reflections 
we  have  made  upon  the  conduct  of  the  last  four  reigns; 
for  after  all  the  frequent  and  pressing  endeavours  that 


CLOSING  YEARS 


265 


were  used  in  each  of  them  to  reduce  this  kingdom  to 
an  exact  conformity  in  religion,  it  is  visible  the  success 
has  not  answered  the  design,  and  the  difficulty  is 
invincible."  These  words  are  true,  whoever  uttered 
them,  and  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  however  un- 
constitutional, marked  a  victory  won  for  the  cause  of 
Toleration,  which  no  efforts  of  ecclesiastical  bigotry 
have  ever  been  able  thoroughly  to  reverse. 

In  the  early  part  of  1686,  a  year  before  the  Declara- 
tion of  Indulgence,  there  had  been  some  relaxation  of 
the  severities  practised  upon  Friends.  Fox  writes  thus 
in  the  Journal — "  I  came  back  to  London  in  the  First 
Month  (March),  1686,  and  set  myself  with  all  diligence 
to  look  after  Friends'  sufferings,  from  which  we  had 
now  some  hope  of  getting  relief.  The  sessions  came 
on  in  the  Second  Month  (April),  at  Hicks's  Hall,  where 
many  Friends  had  appeals  to  be  tried ;  with  whom  I 
was  from  day  to  day,  to  advise  and  see  that  no  oppor- 
tunity were  slipped,  nor  advantage  lost,  and  they 
generally  succeeded  well.  Soon  after  also,  the  King 
was  pleased,  upon  our  often  laying  our  sufferings  before 
him,  to  give  order  for  the  releasing  of  all  prisoners  for 
conscience'  sake  that  were  in  his  power  to  discharge, 
whereby  the  prison-doors  were  opened,  and  many 
hundreds  of  Friends,  some  of  whom  had  been  long  in 
prison,  were  set  at  liberty.  Some  of  them,  who  had 
for  many  years  been  restrained  in  bonds,  came  now  up 
to  the  Yearly  Meeting,  which  was  in  the  Third  Month 
(May)  this  year.  This  caused  great  joy  to  Friends,  to 
see  our  ancient,  faithful  brethren  again  at  liberty  in  the 
Lord's  work,  after  their  long  confinement.  And  indeed  a 
precious  meeting  we  had,  the  refreshing  presence  of  the 
Lord  appearing  plentifully  with  us  and  amongst  us." 


266 


GEORGE  FOX 


It  was  soon  observed  that  the  liberty  granted  to 
Nonconformists  was  shared  (most  justly  according  to 
our  present  views)  by  the  Roman  Catholics.  "  As  it 
was  a  time  of  general  liberty,"  says  Fox,  "  the  Papists 
appeared  more  open  in  their  worship  than  formerly ; 
and  many  unsettled  people  going  to  view  them  at  it,  a 
great  talk  there  was  of  their  praying  to  saints  and  by 
beads,  etc.,  whereupon  I  wrote  a  short  paper  concerning 
prayer."    The  paper  begins — 

"  Christ  Jesus,  when  He  taught  His  disciples  to  pray, 
said  unto  them,  '  When  ye  pray,  say,  Our  Father  which 
art  in  heaven,  hallowed  be  thy  name,  etc'  Christ 
doth  not  say  that  they  should  pray  to  Mary  the  mother 
of  Christ ;  nor  doth  He  say  that  they  should  pray  to 
angels  or  to  saints  that  are  dead.  Christ  did  not  teach 
them  to  pray  to  the  dead,  nor  for  the  dead ;  neither 
did  Christ  or  His  apostles  teach  the  believers  to  pray 
by  beads,  nor  to  sing  by  outward  organs,  but  the 
apostle  said  he  would  sing  and  pray  by  the  Spirit, 
for  the  Spirit  itself  maketh  intercession,'  and  the 
Lord  that  searcheth  the  heart  knoweth  the  mind  of 
the  spirit." 

Next  year  (May  1687),  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence 
having  been  issued,  the  result  of  the  general  toleration 
and  liberty  now  granted  was  seen  in  a  very  large 
attendance  of  the  Yearly  Meeting.  At  the  close  of  it, 
Fox  addressed  a  very  wise  "Word  of  counsel  and 
caution  to  Friends  to  walk  circumspectly  in  this  time 
of  liberty."  The  Lord  having  been  pleased  to  incline 
the  King's  heart  towards  them,  to  open  the  prison- 
doors  and  to  stop  the  spoilers  of  their  goods,  he  had 
an  anxious  desire  "that  none  of  them  might  abuse  this 
liberty  nor  the  mercies  of  the  Lord,  but  prize  them,  for 


CLOSING  YEARS 


267 


there  is  great  danger  in  time  of  liberty,  of  getting  up 
into  ease,  looseness,  and  false  liberty.  And  now,"  he 
continued,  "  seeing  that  ye  have  not  the  outward  per- 
secutors to  war  with  in  sufferings,  with  the  spiritual 
weapons  keep  down  that  which  would  not  be  subject 
to  Christ,  that  He,  the  Holy  One,  may  reign  in  your 
hearts,  that  your  lives,  conversations,  and  words  may 
preach  righteousness  and  truth,  that  ye  all  may  show 
forth  good  ensamples  of  true  believers  in  Christ,  in 
virtue  and  holiness,  answering  that  which  may  be 
known  of  God  in  all  people,  that  ye  are  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  God." 

And  now  the  time  was  drawing  on  for  the  great 
Revolution  of  1688,  the  last  cataclysm  that  has  befallen 
the  English  State.  The  reader  shall  see  just  how  much 
and  how  little  mark  it  makes  in  Fox's  Journal,  and 
shall  conjecture  for  himself  what  his  secret  feelings 
may  have  been  concerning  it. 

(September  1688.)  "  I  had  not  been  long  in  London 
before  a  great  weight  came  upon  me,  and  the  Lord 
gave  me  a  sight  of  the  great  bustles  and  troubles, 
revolution  and  change,  which  soon  after  came  to  pass. 
In  the  sense  whereof,  and  in  the  movings  of  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord,  I  wrote  a  general  Epistle  to  Friends,  to 
forewarn  them  of  the  approaching  storm,  that  they 
might  all  retire  to  the  Lord,  in  whom  safety  is.  .  .  . 
About  this  time  great  exercise  and  weight  came  upon 
me  (as  had  usually  done  before  the  great  revolutions 
and  changes  of  government),  and  my  strength  departed 
from  me :  so  that  I  reeled  and  was  ready  to  fall  as  I 
went  along  the  streets.  At  length  I  could  not  go 
abroad  at  all,  I  was  so  weak  for  some  time,  till  I  felt 
the  power  of  the  Lord  to  spring  over  all,  and  had 


268 


GEORGE  FOX 


received  an  assurance  from  Him  that  He  would  preserve 
His  faithful  people  to  Himself  through  all." 

(March  5,  1689:  the  "Glorious  Revolution"  already 
accomplished  :  William  III.  at  Whitehall,  and  James 
II.  at  St.  Germains.)  "  It  was  now  a  time  of  much 
talk,  and  people  busied  their  minds  and  spent  their 
time  too  much  in  hearing  and  telling  news.  To  show 
them  the  vanity  thereof,  and  to  draw  them  from  it,  I 
wrote  the  following  lines  : — '  In  the  low  region,  in  the 
airy  life,  all  news  is  uncertain ;  there  nothing  is  stable ; 
but  in  the  higher  region,  in  the  Kingdom  of  Christ, 
there  all  things  are  stable  and  sure,  and  the  news 
always  good  and  certain.  For  Christ,  who  hath  all 
power  in  heaven  and  earth  given  unto  Him,  rules  in 
the  kingdoms  of  men.  .  .  .  His  power  is  certain  and 
changes  not,  by  which  He  removes  the  mountains  and 
hills,  and  shakes  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  Leaky, 
dishonourable  vessels,  the  hills  and  mountains,  and  the 
old  heavens  and  the  earth,  are  all  to  be  shaken  and 
removed  and  broken  to  pieces,  though  they  do  not  see 
it  nor  him  that  doeth  it;  but  His  elect  and  faithful 
both  see  it  and  know  Him  and  His  power,  that  cannot 
be  shaken,  and  which  changeth  not. 

"  About  the  middle  of  the  first  month  (March),  1689, 
I  went  to  London,  the  Parliament  then  sitting,  and 
engaged  about  the  bill  for  Indulgence.  Though  I  was 
weak  in  body  and  not  well  able  to  stir  about,  yet  so  great 
a  concern  was  upon  my  spirit  on  behalf  of  Truth  and 
Friends,  that  I  attended  continually  for  many  days, 
with  other  Friends,  at  the  Parliament  house,  labouring 
with  the  members  that  the  thing  might  be  done  com- 
prehensively and  effectually." 

The  end  of  Fox's  long  labours  "  for  the  cause  of 


CLOSING  YEARS 


269 


Truth "  was  now  approaching.  Through  these  later 
years,  as  has  been  said,  his  old  energy  had  greatly 
abated,  and  he  had  seldom  travelled  more  than  twenty 
miles  from  Loudon.  Swarthmoor  Hall  was  out  of  the 
question  for  him,  with  his  enfeebled  frame,  racked  by 
rheumatism  and  neuralgia,  and  actually  it  was  his  wife, 
though  ten  years  older  than  he,  and  now  seventy-six 
years  of  age,  who  made  the  long  journey  up  from 
Lancashire  in  order  to  accomplish  their  last  meeting. 
Their  contemporaries,  like  modern  readers,  were  evi- 
dently surprised  that  this  faithful  couple,  strongly 
attached,  as  they  certainly  were,  to  one  another,  should 
have  been  willing  to  spend  so  much  of  their  life 
apart.  We  will  hear  Margaret  Fox's  account  of  this 
last  meeting,  an  account  which  bears  somewhat  of  the 
character  of  an  Apologia  for  their  long  separation. 

"  Though  the  Lord  had  provided  an  outward  habit- 
ation for  him  [by  his  marriage],  yet  he  was  not  willing 
to  stay  at  it,  because  it  was  so  remote  and  far  from 
London,  where  his  service  most  lay.  And  my  concern 
for  God  and  His  holy  eternal  truth  was  then  in  the 
North,  where  God  had  placed  and  set  me,  and  likewise 
for  the  ordering  and  governing  of  my  children  and 
family :  so  that  we  were  very  willing,  both  of  us,  to  live 
apart  for  some  years  on  God's  account,  and  His  truth's 
service,  and  to  deny  ourselves  of  that  comfort  which  we 
might  have  had  in  being  together,  for  the  sake  and 
service  of  the  Lord  and  His  truth.  And  if  any  took 
occasion,  or  judged  hard  of  us  because  of  that,  the  Lord 
will  judge  them  :  for  we  were  innocent.  And  for  my 
own  part,  I  was  willing  to  take  many  long  journeys,  for 
taking  away  all  occasion  of  evil  thoughts ;  and  though 
I  lived  two  hundred  miles  from  London,  yet  have  I 


270 


GEORGE  FOX 


been  nine  times  there  upon  the  Lord  and  His  truth's 
account;  and  of  all  the  times  that  I  was  in  London, 
this  last  was  most  comfortable,  that  the  Lord  was 
pleased  to  give  me  strength  and  ability  to  travel  that 
great  journey,  being  seventy-six  years  of  age,  to  see  my 
dear  husband,  who  was  better  in  his  health  and 
strength  than  many  times  I  had  seen  him  before.  I 
look  upon  it  that  the  Lord's  special  hand  was  in  it  that 
I  should  go  then,  for  he  lived  but  about  half-a-year 
after  I  left  him,  which  makes  me  admire  the  wisdom 
and  goodness  of  God  in  ordering  my  journey  at  that 
time." 

The  last  years  and  months  of  George  Fox's  life  were 
busily  occupied  in  writing  Epistles  to  the  Friends  in 
various  stations,  to  Friends  in  Barbadoes  and  America, 
to  the  persecuted  congregation  at  Dantzic,  to  the  magis- 
trates of  that  city,  and  so  forth.  These  documents  suffer 
from  that  tendency  to  diffuseness  which  was  characteristic 
both  of  the  author  and  the  age,  and  though  they  are 
full  of  beautiful  Christian  feeling,  it  cannot  be  said  that 
the  expositions  of  Scripture  in  which  they  abound  are 
particularly  luminous  or  helpful.  But  there  are  many 
grains  of  gold  in  the  mass,  expressions  which  come 
straight  from  the  heart  of  the  writer,  and  help  one  to 
understand  the  power  which  his  spoken  discourses  had 
on  the  hearts  of  his  hearers.  In  one  of  the  years  of 
persecution  (1685)  he  comforted  his  suffering  Friends, 
by  speaking  to  them  of  Christ,  "  in  whom  the  promises 
are  Yea  and  Amen ;  who  is  the  First  and  the  Last,  the 
Beginning  and  the  Ending — the  EterDal  Rest.  So 
keep  and  walk  in  Christ,  your  rest,  every  one  that  hath 
received  Him." 

Into  that  Eternal  Rest  the  struggling,  toiling  soul 


CLOSING  YEARS 


271 


was  now  to  enter.  On  January  10,  1691,  he  wrote  a 
letter  to  the  Friends  in  Ireland,  who  had  been  suffering 
from  the  Civil  War  between  James  and  William,  waged 
in  that  country.  The  next  day  (Sunday)  he  went  to 
the  Friends'  meeting  at  Gracechurch  Street;  no  need 
now  to  meet  in  the  courtyard,  nor  fear  of  constables 
coming  to  arrest  the  preacher.  There  he  preached  a 
long  and  powerful  sermon,  and  the  meeting  ended,  he 
went  to  the  house  of  a  Friend  named  Henry  Goldney,  in 
White  Hart  Court,  near  the  meeting-house.  "Some 
Friends  going  with  him  thither,  he  told  them  he 
thought  he  felt  the  cold  strike  to  his  heart  as  he  came 
out  of  the  meeting ;  '  yet,'  he  added,  '  I  am  glad  I  was 
here.    Now  I  am  clear ;  I  am  fully  clear.' " 

He  still  complained  of  cold,  "  and  his  strength  sensibly 
decaying,  he  was  soon  obliged  to  go  into  bed,  where  he 
lay  in  much  contentment  and  peace,  and  very  sensible 
to  the  last."  "  Divers  Friends  came  to  visit  him  in  his 
illness,  to  some  of  whom  he  said,  '  All  is  well :  the  Seed 
of  God  reigns  over  all,  and  over  death  itself.  And 
though  I  am  weak  in  body,  yet  the  power  of  God  is 
over  all,  and  the  Seed  reigns  over  all  disorderly  spirits.' " 

"  Thus  lying  in  a  heavenly  frame  of  mind,  his  spirit 
wholly  exercised  towards  the  Lord,  he  grew  weaker  in 
his  natural  strength,  and  on  the  third  day  of  the  week 
[Tuesday],  between  the  hours  of  nine  and  ten  in  the 
evening,  he  quietly  departed  this  life  in  peace,  and 
sweetly  fell  asleep  in  the  Lord,  whose  blessed  truth  he 
had  livingly  and  powerfully  preached  in  the  meeting 
but  two  days  before." 

On  the  day  appointed  for  the  interment  of  George 
Fox,  a  very  great  concourse  of  Friends  assembled  at 
Gracechurch  Street  Meeting-house  about  noon.  After 


272 


GEORGE  FOX 


a  solemn  meeting,  which  lasted  about  two  hours,  the 
body  was  borne  by  Friends,  accompanied  by  very  great 
numbers,  to  the  Friends'  burial-ground  near  Bunhill 
Fields,  "  where  after  a  solemn  waiting  upon  the  Lord, 
and  several  living  testimonies  borne,  recommending  the 
company  to  the  guidance  and  protection  of  that  Divine 
Spirit  and  power  by  which  this  holy  man  of  God  had 
been  raised  up,  furnished,  supported,  and  preserved  to 
the  end  of  his  day,  his  body  was  committed  to  the 
earth  ;  but  his  memorial  shall  remain  and  be  everlast- 
ingly blessed  among  the  righteous." 


CHAPTER  XVII 


CONCLUSION 


We  have  heard  Fox's  friends  tell  in  their  own  simple 
language  the  story  of  his  death  and  burial.  From 
the  doges  dedicated  to  his  memory  by  his  widow, 
his  six  step-daughters  and  their  husbands,  his  friends 
William  Penn  and  Thomas  Ellwood,  I  will  extract  a 
few  sentences  which  may  help  us  to  imagine  the  man 
as  he  appeared  to  his  contemporaries. 

Margaret  Fox. — "  It  hath  pleased  Almighty  God  to 
take  away  my  dear  husband  out  of  this  evil,  trouble- 
some world,  who  was  not  a  man  thereof,  being  chosen 
out  of  it ;  who  had  his  life  and  being  in  another  region, 
and  whose  testimony  was  against  the  world,  that  the 
deeds  thereof  were  evil,  and  therefore  the  world  hated 
him  

"And  now  he  hath  finished  his  course  and  his  testi- 
mony and  is  entered  into  his  eternal  rest  and  felicity. 
I  trust  in  the  same  powerful  God  that  His  holy  arm 
and  power  will  carry  me  through,  whatever  He  hath 
yet  for  me  to  do ;  and  that  He  will  be  my  strength  and 
support  and  the  bearer-up  of  my  heart  unto  the  end 
and  in  the  end.  For  I  know  His  faithfulness  and 
goodness  and  I  have  experience  of  His  love,  to  whom 
be  glory  and  powerful  dominion  for  ever.    Amen." 1 


1  Margaret  Fox  survived  her  second  husband  nearly  twelve 
years,  and  died  at  Swarthmoor  in  her  eighty-eighth  year. 


278 


T 


274 


GEORGE  FOX 


The  six  daughters  and  their  husbands. — "  Neither  days 
nor  length  of  time  with  us  can  wear  out  the  memory 
of  our  dear  and  honoured  father,  George  Fox,  whom 
the  Lord  hath  taken  to  Himself ....  Though  of  no 
great  literature  nor  seeming  much  learned,  as  to  the 
outward  (being  hid  from  the  wisdom  of  this  world),  yet 
he  had  the  tongue  of  the  learned  and  could  speak  a 
word  in  due  season  to  the  conditions  and  capacities 
of  most,  especially  to  them  that  were  weary  and 
wanted  soul's  rest,  being  deep  in  the  divine  mysteries 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

"And  the  word  of  life  and  salvation  through  him 
reached  unto  many  souls,  whereby  many  were  convinced 
of  their  great  duty  of  inward  retiring  to  wait  upon  God ; 
and  as  they  became  diligent  in  the  performance  of 
that  service,  were  also  raised  up  to  be  preachers  of  the 
same  everlasting  gospel  of  peace  and  glad  tidings  to 
others;  who  are  as  seals  to  his  ministry  both  in  this 
and  other  matters,  and  may  possibly  give  a  more  full 
account  thereof.  Howbeit  we,  knowing  his  unwearied 
diligence,  not  sparing,  but  spending  himself  in  the 
work  and  service  whereunto  he  was  chosen  and  called 
of  God,  could  not  but  give  this  short  testimony  of  his 
faithfulness  therein,  and  likewise  of  his  tender  love 
and  care  towards  us ;  who,  as  a  tender  father  to  his 
children,  (in  which  capacity  we  stood,  being  so  related 
to  him,)  never  failed  to  give  us  his  wholesome  counsel 
and  advice." 

William  Penn  (himself,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  a 
courtier  and  something  of  a  scholar). — "  He  was  a  man 
that  God  endued  with  a  clear  and  wonderful  depth,  a 
discerner  of  others'  spirits  and  very  much  a  master  of 
his  own.    And  though  the  side  of  his  understanding 


CONCLUSION 


275 


which  lay  next  to  the  world,  and  especially  the  ex- 
pression of  it,  might  sound  uncouth  and  unfashionable 
to  nice  ears,  his  matter  was  nevertheless  very  profound, 
and  would  not  only  bear  to  be  often  considered,  but  the 
more  it  was  so,  the  more  weighty  and  instructive  it 
appeared.  And  as  abruptly  and  brokenly  as  sometimes 
his  sentences  would  fall  from  him  about  divine  things, 
it  is  well  known  they  were  often  as  texts  to  many  fairer 
declarations.  And  indeed  it  showed  beyond  all  con- 
tradiction that  God  sent  him ;  that  no  art  or  part  had 
any  share  in  the  matter  or  manner  of  his  ministry, 
and  that  so  many  great,  excellent,  and  necessary  truths 
as  he  came  forth  to  preach  to  mankind  had  there- 
fore nothing  of  man's  wit  or  wisdom  to  recommend 
them ;  so  that  as  to  man  he  was  an  original,  being 
no  man's  copy. 

"  He  had  an  extraordinary  gift  in  opening  the 
Scriptures.  He  would  go  to  the  marrow  of  things 
and  show  the  mind,  harmony,  and  fulfilling  of  them, 
with  much  plainness  and  to  great  comfort  and  edifi- 
cation. 

"  But  above  all  he  excelled  in  prayer.  The  inwardness 
and  weight  of  his  spirit,  the  reverence  and  solemnity 
of  his  address  and  behaviour,  and  the  fewness  and 
fulness  of  his  words  have  often  struck  even  strangers 
with  admiration,  as  they  used  to  reach  others  with 
consolation.  The  most  awful,  living,  reverent  frame 
I  ever  felt  or  beheld,  I  must  say,  was  his  in  prayer. 
And  truly  it  was  a  testimony  he  knew  [more]  and 
lived  nearer  to  the  Lord  than  other  men :  for  they 
that  know  Him  most  will  see  most  reason  to  approach 
Him  with  reverence  and  fear. 

"  He  was  of  an  innocent  life,  no  busy-body  nor  self- 


276 


GEORGE  FOX 


seeker,  neither  touchy  nor  critical :  what  fell  from  him 
was  very  inoffensive  if  not  very  edifying.1    So  meek, 
contented,  modest,  easy,  steady,  tender,  it  was  a  pleasure 
to  be  in  his  company.    He  exercised  no  authority  but 
over  evil,  and  that  everywhere  and  in  all;  but  with 
love,  compassion,  and  long-suffering.    A  most  merciful 
man,  as  ready  to  forgive  as  unapt  to  give  or  take  an 
offence.    Thousands  can  truly  say  he  was  of  an  ex- 
cellent spirit  and  savour  among  them,  and  because 
thereof  the  most  excellent  spirits  loved  him  with  an 
unfeigned  and  unfading  love.  .  .  .  And  truly  I  must 
say  that  though  God  had  visibly  clothed  him  with 
a  divine  presence  and  authority,  and  indeed  his  very 
presence  expressed  a  religious  majesty,  yet  he  never 
abused  it,  but  held  his  place  in  the  Church  of  God 
with  great  meekness  and  a  most  engaging  humility  and 
moderation.  ...  I  write  my  knowledge  and  not  report, 
and  my  witness  is  true,  having  been  with  him  for  weeks 
and  months  together  on  occasions,  and  those  of  the  nearest 
and  most  exercising  nature,  and  that  by  night  and  by 
day,  by  sea  and  by  land,  in  this  and  in  foreign  countries ; 
and  I  can  say  I  never  saw  him  out  of  his  place  or  not 
a  match  for  every  service  or  occasion.    For  in  all  things 
he  acquitted  himself  like  a  man,  yea,  a  strong  man, 
a  new  and   heavenly-minded  man,  a  divine  and  a 
naturalist,  and  all  of  God  Almighty's  making.    I  have 
been  surprised  at  his  questions  and  answers  in  natural 
things :  that  whilst  he  was  ignorant  of  useless  and 
sophistical  science,  he  had  in  him  the  foundation  of 
useful  and  commendable  knowledge  and  cherished  it, 
everywhere.    Civil,  beyond  all  forms  of  breeding,  in 

1  This  looks  like  dispraise.  I  imagine  that  Penn  means, "  even 
when  it  was  not  very  edifying." 


CONCLUSION 


277 


his  behaviour ;  very  temperate,  eating  little  and  sleeping 
less,  though  a  bulky  person. 

"  Thus  he  lived  and  sojourned  among  us ;  and  as  he 
lived  so  he  died :  feeling  the  same  eternal  power  that 
had  raised  and  preserved  him,  in  his  last  moments. 
So  full  of  assurance  was  he  that  he  triumphed  over 
death,  and  so  even  in  his  spirit  to  the  last,  as  if  death 
were  hardly  worth  notice  or  a  mention." 

Lastly,  we  may  take  a  few  words  from  Thomas 
Elhvood,  the  friend  of  Milton,  the  suggester  of  Paradise 
Regained,  and  the  editor  of  George  Fox's  Journal. 

"  I  knew  him  not  till  the  year  1661 ;  from  that  time 
to  the  time  of  his  death  I  knew  him  well,  conversed 
with  him  often,  observed  him  much,  loved  him  dearly 
and  honoured  him  truly;  and  upon  good  experience 
I  can  say,  he  was  indeed  a  heavenly-minded  man, 
zealous  for  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  preferred  the 
honour  of  God  before  all  things.  He  was  valiant  for 
the  truth,  bold  in  asserting  it,  patient  in  suffering  for 
it,  unwearied  in  labouring  in  it,  steady  in  his  testimony 
to  it,  immovable  as  a  rock.  Deep  he  was  in  Divine 
knowledge,  clear  in  opening  heavenly  mysteries,  plain 
and  powerful  in  preaching,  fervent  in  prayer.  He 
was  richly  endued  with  heavenly  wisdom,  quiet  in 
discerning,  sound  in  judgment,  able  and  i-eady  in 
giving,  discreet  in  keeping  counsel;  a  lover  of  right- 
eousness, an  encourager  of  virtue,  justice,  temperance, 
meekness,  purity,  chastity,  modesty,  humility,  charity, 
and  self-denial  in  all,  both  by  word  and  example. 
Graceful  he  was  in  countenance,  manly  in  personage, 
grave  in  gesture,  courteous  in  conversation,  weighty 
in  communication,  instructive  in  discourse,  free  from 
affectation  in  speech  or  carriage,  a  severe  reprover  of 


278 


GEORGE  FOX 


hard  and  obstinate  sinners ;  a  mild  and  gentle  admo- 
nisher  of  such  as  were  tender  and  sensible  of  their 
failings ;  not  apt  to  resent  personal  wrongs,  easy  to 
forgive  injuries ;  but  zealously  earnest,  where  the 
honour  of  God,  the  prosperity  of  truth,  the  peace  of 
the  Church  were  concerned.  Very  tender,  com- 
passionate, and  pitiful  he  was  to  all  that  were  under 
any  sort  of  affliction ;  full  of  brotherly  love,  full  of 
fatherly  care,  for  indeed  the  care  of  the  churches  of 
Christ  was  daily  upon  him,  the  prosperity  and  peace 
whereof  he  studiously  sought." 

I  have  thought  it  better  to  give  these  descriptions  of 
Fox  with  some  fulness,  lest  in  condensing  I  should  in 
any  way  alter  the  proportions  of  the  picture.  They 
of  course  are  the  work  of  loving  friends  and  admir- 
ing followers,  and  are  to  be  taken  with  all  needful 
allowances  on  that  score.  But  even  so,  I  think  it  will 
be  admitted  that  we  have  here  the  portrait  not  only  of 
a  strong,  but  of  a  lovable  man.  That  keen  and  piercing 
eye  of  his  was  not  always  sparkling  with  indignation 
against  hypocritical  "professors" — it  could  also  shed 
tears  of  sympathy  with  the  sorrowful,  and  there  was 
something  in  his  face  which  little  children  loved. 

To  sum  up  in  fewest  possible  words  the  impression 
made  by  his  words  and  works  upon  one  who  studies  them 
across  the  level  of  two  centuries :  he  was  a  man  of 
lion-like  courage  and  adamantine  strength  of  will, 
absolutely  truthful,  devoted  to  the  fulfilment  of  what 
he  believed  to  be  his  God-appointed  mission,  and  with- 
out any  of  those  side-long  looks  at  worldly  promotion 
and  aggrandizement  which  many  sincere  leaders  of 
Church  parties  have  cast  at  intervals  of  their  journey. 
The  chief  defect  in  Fox's  character  will  perhaps  be 


CONCLUSION 


279 


best  described  in  the  words  of  Carlyle — "  Cromwell 
found  George  Fox's  enormous  sacred  self-confidence 
none  of  the  least  of  his  attainments."  It  is  to  be  re- 
membered that  Fox  preached  the  doctrine  of  Christian 
perfection  as  a  thing  of  possible  attainment  in  this  life; 
nor  is  he  any  the  less  welcome  as  a  teacher  because  he 
does  not  indulge  in  that  cant  of  exaggerated  self-con- 
demnation which  was  one  of  the  signs  of  degenerating 
Puritanism.  Still  it  is  difficult  for  a  reader  of  the 
Journal  not  to  feel  that  Fox  is  too  confident  of  the 
absolute  Tightness  of  his  own  conduct,  and  the  utter 
wickedness  of  all  who  oppose  him.  This  is  of  course 
the  usual  note  of  the  Prophet,  and  one  of  the  things 
whereby  he  is  most  distinguished  from  the  Philosopher, 
at  least  the  true  Philosopher.  It  is  the  spirit  of  Hosea 
rather  than  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  and,  paradoxical  as  it 
may  sound,  if  Fox's  education  had  been  such  as  to  give 
him  a  little  less  of  the  teaching  of  the  Minor  Prophets, 
and  a  little  more — he  probably  had  none — of  the  teach- 
ing of  the  best  of  the  Greek  philosophers,  the  result 
might  have  been  a  fuller  manifestation  of  "  the  meek- 
ness and  gentleness  of  Christ." 

But  the  beauties  or  the  blemishes  of  the  man's  indi- 
vidual character  are  not  after  all  the  chief  point  for 
consideration  by  the  student  of  his  career.  He  believed, 
and  his  whole  life  was  moulded  by  the  belief,  that  he 
had  a  message  from  God  to  deliver  to  mankind.  The 
important  question  is,  whether  this  was  in  any  sense 
true,  or  whether  it  was  a  mere  delusion.  Different 
readers  of  this  little  book  will  no  doubt  answer  that 
question  differently.  To  some  the  question  will  seem 
to  be  negatived  beforehand  by  the  simple  fact  that 
Fox  received  no  commission  to  preach  from  those 


280 


GEORGE  FOX 


whom  they  regard  as  the  successors  of  the  Apostles. 
Others,  perhaps  a  more  numerous  class,  will  consider 
that  the  mistakes  and  failings,  the  eccentricities,  per- 
haps the  symptoms  of  mental  excitement  which  occa- 
sionally showed  themselves  in  the  earlier  parts  of  his 
career,  equally  remove  the  question  from  the  zone  of 
rational  discussion.  But  if  we  admit  the  existence 
of  any  Divine  revelation  whatever,  it  may  be  worth 
while  to  ask  ourselves — and  the  question  has  a  much 
wider  reach  than  to  the  individual  instance  now  before 
us — "  Through  what  manner  of  men  has  the  Being 
whom  we  must  believe  to  be  All-wise,  as  well  as 
Almighty,  generally  spoken  to  mankind  ?  Speaking 
now  of  the  servants,  not  of  the  Son,  have  they  as  a 
rule  been  men  fallible  or  infallible  ? "  We  know  that 
Stephen  in  his  dying  speech  made  a  strange  blunder  as 
to  the  burial-place  of  Jacob,  that  Peter  at  Antioch  was 
guilty  of  base  compliance  with  the  Judaizing  party : 
yet  do  we  not  in  spite  of  these  errors,  intellectual  and 
moral,  rightly  regard  them  as  message-bearers  from  the 
Most  High  ? 


INDEX 


Abraham,  Daniel  and  Rachel, 
221 

Abrahams,  Galenus,  260-261 
America,  visit  to,  226-237 
Ap-John,  John,  146-150 
Arlington,  Lord,  218 
Ashbnrnham,  Constable,  177 
Askew,  Anne,  66 
Audland,  John,  69 

Baltimore,  Lord,  231 

Baptists,  21,  103,  119,  239 

Barbadoes,  Address  to  Governor 
of  229  230 

Barclay,  Robert,  6,  207,  250,  254, 
256,  258 

Barebones  Parliament,  51,  101 

Barton,  Colonel,  43,  51 

Bennet,  Sir  Henry  (Lord  Arling- 
ton), 187 

Bennet,  Col.  (Launceston),  132, 
138,  139 

Bennet,  Justice  (of  Derby),  42,  53 
Benson,  Col.  Gervase,  75,  81,  86, 
92,  101 

Bible,  authority  of,  85,  111,  158 
Blasphemy  Act  (1650),  79 
Blasphemy  Ordinance  (1648),  53 
Booth,  Sir  George,  166 
Bradden,  Captain,  130-132 
Bradshaw,  President,  75,  167,  210 
Buckingham,  Duke  of,  189 
Bunyan,  John,  19,  181 
Burnyeat,  John,  253 
Bushel  (a  Ranter),  62 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  279 


Cary  (of  Devonshire),  119 
Caton,  William,  73,  260 
Ceely,  Peter,  121,  130-132 
Charles  II.,  167,  170,  175,  176, 
183 

"Children  of  the  Light,"  54, 
246 

Claypole,  Lady,  163 
Conventicle  Act,  171,  217,  222, 

238,  241,  249,  252,  262 
Corbet  (barrister),  243,  244 
Cornwall,  Fox's  visit  to,  120-127 
Cradock,  Dr.  (of  Coventry),  23,  24 
Cradock,  Dr.  (Episcopalian),  199, 

200 

Craven,  Robert  (Sheriff  of  Lin- 
colnshire), 102 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  43,  108-114, 
117,  137,  144,  145,  154,  162- 
165,  167-169 

Cromwell,  Richard,  165 

Crook,  John,  117,  159 

Crosland,  Sir  Jordan,  197,  202, 
203 

Crowder,  Dr.,  241,  242 
Curtis,  Ann,  179 

Daniel,  book  of,  hats  mentioned 

in,  128,  129 
Dantzic,  Quakers  at,  259,  270 
Declaration  of  Indulgence,  264- 

266 

Desborough,  Major-General,  124- 

126,  138,  139 
Dolly  Bray,  240 

"  Dnomsdaie "  in  Launceston 
Gaol,  133-139 


282 


INDEX 


Drayton.    See  Fenny  Drayton 
Drury,   Captain,  43,  109,  110, 
112 

Dugdale,  Sir  William,  187 

Elecampane  beer,  198 
Elizabeth,   Princess  (Palatine), 
255-259 

Ellwood,  Thomas,  33,  58,  167, 

168,  207,  250,  277,  278 
Endicott,  John,  232 

Fairfax,  Lady,  199 

Falconbridge  (or  Fauconberg), 
Lord,  199 

Farnsworth,  Rev.  Richard,  74 

Fell,  George,  73,  83,  215,  217, 
219,  221 

Fell,  Judge  (Thomas),  65,  74,  75, 
86,  92,  177,  214 

Fell,  Leonard  88 

Fell,  Margaret  (afterwards  Mar- 
garet- Fox),  66-74,  179,  180, 
188-190,  194-196,  210-221,  226, 
239,  240,  251,  269,  270,  273 

Fell  family,  211,  219-221,  274 

Fenny  Drayton,  9-14,  103-107, 
116 

Fire  of  London,  Great,  204 
Five  Mile  Act,  172 
Fleming,   Sir  Daniel,  184-191, 
204 

Foster,  Sir  Robert  (Chief  Justice), 
181 

Fox,  Captain,  124,  135 
Fox,  Christopher,  15,  107 
Fox,  George,  parentage,  15;  birth- 
place, 9-14;  "  leather  breeches," 
33  ;  message,  34-44.  Imprison- 
ment at  Nottingham,  48-51 ;  at 
Derby,51-56 ;  at  Carlisle,97-101 ; 
at  Launceston, 126-139  ;  at  Lan- 
caster, 179-181  ;  at  Leicester, 
184  ;  at  Lancaster  and  Scarbro', 
191-203;  at  Worcester,  240-244. 
"Alchemy"  buttons,  113;  long 
hair,  122,  150 ;  attitude  to- 
wards Cromwell,  168  ;  reflec- 
tions on  St.  Bartholomew's 
Day,  172  ;  marriage,  210-214  ; 
visit  to  America,  226-237  ;  to 


Holland  and  Germany,  254- 
261  ;  death  and  funeral,  271, 
272  ;  character  of,  273-280 

Fox,  John  (Presbyterian  minis- 
ter), 223 

Fox,  Mary,  15,  239 

Frescheville,  Lord,  197 

Glyn,  Chief  Justice,  127-131 
Goldney,  Henry,  271 

Hacker,  Colonel,  43, 108-110, 164 
Hains  (clergyman),  239 
Hale,  Chief  Justice,  243,  244 
Harvey  (valet  of  Oliver  Cromwell), 

110,  164 
"  Hat-worship,"  39-41,  128-131 
Holland,  visit  to,  254-259 
Hooton,  Elizabeth,  231 
Hotham,  Justice,  60,  62,  75 
Howgill,  Francis,  69,  77 
Hubberthorn,  Richard,  88 
Hunter  (gaoler),  197 

Independents,  114,  147 
Indians,  North  American,  234- 

236 
Ireland,  271 
Ireton,  167 

Jackus  (Lancashire  clergyman), 

85 

Jamaica,  155,  231 

James  II.,  264-268 

Jenkins,  Walter,  207 

Jesuit,  discussion  with,  157-159 

John  III.,  King  of  Poland.  259 

Keat,  Captain,  124,  126,  135 
Keith,  George,  254 

Mrs.,  257 
Kirkby,  Colonel,  184,  188,  189, 
190,  195,  196,  217,  225,  252 

Labadie,  Jean,  256 

Lambert,  Colonel,  185 

Lampitt,  Rev.  William,  69-75, 
82,  252,  253 

Larkham  (clergyman  of  Cocker- 
mouth),  94 

Lawson,  Wilfred,  98 


INDEX 


283 


Lichfield,  "the  bloody  city  of," 
57-58 

"Light  Within,"  34-37,  119, 
126,  145,  147,  234-235,  246- 
249 

Lower,  Dr.,  F.R.S.,  211,  220, 
241 

Lower,  Thomas,  220,  221,  238, 
239-244 

Macham  (or  Machin),  Rev.  J.,  24 

Major-Generals,  Cromwell's,  125 

Mallet,  Sir  Thomas,  180, 181 

Marcellinus,  Pope,  199 

Marshall  (clergyman  of  Lancas- 
ter), 84,  85 

Marsh,  "  Esquire,"  181,  182,  202, 
208,  209 

Maryland,  visit  to,  231-235 

Meade,  William,  220,  225 

Meunonites,  260 

Middleton,  Sir  George,  189,  190 

Milner,  James,  88 
,,      Jane,  210 

Monk,  General,  166 

Montague,  Lady,  103 

Moss-troopers,  100 

Mount,  Constable,  178 

Myer,  Richard,  88 

Naturalism,  46 

Naylor,  Jas.   59,  74,  76,  87,  88, 

141-144,  247 
Negro  slavery,  228,  229,  230,  231 
Newport,  Earl  of,  157 
Nimeguen,  Peace  of,  255 
Nithsdale,  Earl  of,  152 
Norton,  Humphrey,  137 

Oaths,  forbidden  to  Christians,  37- 
39 

Oaths,  substitute  for,  tendered  by 

Fox,  243 
Owen,  Dr.  John,  145 

Parker  (magistrate),  239-242 
Parker,  Alexander,  108 
Parnell,  James,  104 
Pearson,  Anthony,  75-78,  81,  99, 
101 

Penn,  William,  15,  17,  207,  219, 


220,  225,  238,  239,  254,  256, 

258,  260,  274-277 
Pennington,  Isaac,  207 
Perfection,  Christian,  36 
Perrot,  John,  247 
Peters,  Hugh,  138 
Porter,  Major,  177,  179,  181 
Praemunire,  penalty  of,  191,  192, 

243,  244 
Preston,  James,  234,  236 
Prisons,  English,  133 
j  Purefoys,  of  Drayton,  10-12 
1  Pursloe,  Captain,  60,  62 
Pyot,  Edward,  117-139,  145 

Quakers  (first  use  of  the  name),  54 
,,  Act  of  1662  against,  175  ; 
numbers  of,  imprisoned,  1650- 
1662,  182 ;  Fox's  scheme  of 
Church  government  for,  206, 
246  ;  schism  of  Wilkinson  and 
|      Story,  246-250 

Ranters,  62,  79, 103,  116,  249,  250 

Rawlinson  (magistrate),  191 

Reckless,  John,  49 

Revolution  of  1688,  267,  268 

Rhode  Island,  232,  233 

Ripan,   Major  (Mayor  of  Lan- 
caster), 86 
!  Robinson  (Yorkshire  magistrate), 
74 

Rogers,  William,  250 

Roman  Catholics,  28, 158, 208, 266 

"  Roundheads,"  123 

Rous,  John,  218,  219,  226,  228, 

238,  261,  262 
Rous,  Margaret,  262 
Rouse,  Colonel,  135 
Rump  Parliament,  dissolution  of, 

92 

Rupert,  Prince,  255,  257 

Salt,  W.,  121-140 
Salthouse,  Thomas,  72,  211 
"Saul's  errand  to  Damascus,"  89 
Saunders,  Mary,  145 
Savile,  Henry,  241 
Savonarola,  21,  59 
Sawrey  (magistrate  of  Ulverston), 
72,  75,  82 


284 


INDEX 


Scotland,  George  Fox's  visit  to, 
151-156 

Sewel  (Quaker  historian),  33,  122, 

247,  260 
Sheldon,  Archbishop,  217 
Socinians,  239,  260 
Starling,  Samuel  (Lord  Mayor), 

224-225 

Stephens  (or  Stevens),  Rev.  Na- 
thaniel, 12-14,  22-23,  103-107 

Story,  John,  248-250,  262 

Stubbs,  John,  186 

Swarthmoor  Hall,  63-68, 151,  221, 
251-253,  261 

Swarthmoor  Meeting-house,  68 

Taylor  (clergyman,  convert  to 
Quakerism),  104 

Tithes,  proposed  abolition  of,  168 

Townsend  (clergyman  of  Nor- 
wich), 166 

Trelawney,  Elizabeth,  119,  220 

Triers,  the,  115 

Turner,  Judge,  193 

Twisden,  Judge,  181,  193 


Uniformity,  Act  of,  171 

Venner  (Fifth  Monarchy  man), 
181 

"Wales,  Fox's  visit  to,  146-151 
War,  unlawful  for  Christians,  41- 
44 

West,  Colonel,  86 
Whitehead,  John,  202 
Whittier,  J.  G.,  46,  47 
Widders,  Robert,  151,  155 
Wilkinson,  John,  248-250,  262 
Williams,  Roger,  232,  253 
Wilson,  William,  186 
Windsor,  Lord,  241 
Worcester,  battle  of,  55,  56 
Wreckers,  Cornish,  161 
Wrey,  Sir  Richard,  103 

Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends,  159 
160 

Yeamans,  Isabel,  211,  255,  257 
Robert,  179,  180,  211 
William,  211,  220 


Richard  Clay  &  Sons,  Limited,  London  &  Bv.ngay. 


1   1012  01199  0175 


Date  Due 

At  . 

^TZ  

1  f  W>  A1 

>  .  •  r 

59 

— cnAiadsd 

* 


